


Passion

by Puppeteer_skills_101



Series: Obsession [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2018-09-05
Packaged: 2018-10-19 12:18:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 23,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10639704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Puppeteer_skills_101/pseuds/Puppeteer_skills_101
Summary: After Maul's capture, it is Obi-wan turn to do the rescuing. With their new alliance, Obi-wan wonders about the data pad and the secrets it holds. But an unexpected turn throws the New Rebels in for many spins.





	1. Horror

"KENOBIIIIIIII!" Maul scream as yet another shock of lighting ended, tears soaked his face as he panted for air. His legs, numb. He was chained to the wall with sorrow and pain spilling from him like a chained broken animal. His stomach roared for food. His lips and mouth, dry from the lack of anything to drink. His voice, hoarse from screaming. He knew it was useless to scream. No one would help him. And the one he wanted and needed the most was worlds away. He was alone with no one to help him. Alone with the only being, he feared his entire life.

He could only wish it would end soon. Whether it would be the torture that would end, him passing out from the pain, or his death. It didn't matter at this moment anymore to Maul. His mind was teetering back and forth on the wall. He knew he didn't want to fall on the wrong side of the wall. Only one side of it had a floor to catch him. The other side was that endless abyss. The same one that took him years to crawl out of with the help of Satine, Feral, and Arsayh. Here, he had no one. No Satine. No Feral. No Arsayh. And yet again, no Obi-wan. He only had the monster that stole him, shaped him, and killed his most family to keep power over him. He was locked in the one chamber with the monster that makes grown men shake in their boots. If he didn't feel numb with the pain, he would be shaking. Was he shaking? He couldn't tell. He couldn't tell if Sidious was saying something. He could only hear the rapid beating of his twin hearts and his gulping of the air that was heated from the lighting. He couldn't even sense anything. His mind was too focus on just trying to attempt to block the pain out. 

 

_Please no more._   
  


Maul wanted it to stop. He wanted his Jedi to break through the chamber door and catch his captor by surprise. He wanted this monster out of his head.

Maul screamed as another wave of force lightning hit him.

"AHHHHHH! NO! STOP PLEASE!" Maul's body arched as the electricity coursed its way through him. It tore and popped nerves Maul never thought he was able to feel. He swore if he felt anything, it was his fingers as the blood drained from them turning them a pale shade than them turning from a grey to a black as his nerves were severed from the lighting with that smell that would stop even the most vicious, feral, and ferocious of creatures in their place to turn around and run away. The smell of burning flesh. Only one creature Maul knew of that could stand the smell and love it. The monster that was causing the smell, causing his pain. 

The wave of lightning stopped.

Maul's head snapped down as he tried to slurp down as much air as possible. Once he felt like he gathered enough breath, he tried to lift his head. He could still hear the electricity jolting through his body. Still burning off more nerves. His bloodshot eyes made contact with the pure yellow ones across the room. His mouth was moving. He was speaking to Maul. Maul couldn't hear him and he didn't care what he had to say anyways. He was too focused on lifting his head up further as the muscles in his neck screamed at him to stop. To just hang from his hands and relax. But Maul continued his gaze up and his eyes widened at what he saw. His fingers were black with smoke rising from them. He tried to move them but he couldn't. He could see the blackening of dead flesh nearly at the top of his wrists, his entire hands, useless, just hanging there. The only thing that held him up and off the floor was the chains around his wrists. The chains. The chains were the easy part. He remembered in his past how the countless amounts of chains that he had broken with his bare hands. He dared not to look at his legs. For all he knew, they could be as bad as his hands. He would be as much droid as Vader is. He prayed to the Winged Goddess and to the Fanged God for him not to turn into such a monster like Vader and the one causing his pain. He would rather die than for that to happen. His head fell as he could register that more tears were falling from his eyes.

 

 _Please just let me die now._ Maul prayed in his head.

 

"Perhaps you will agree amongst those terms." Sidious' voice finally registered in Maul's head. Maul painfully brought his head up for his eyes to meet the piercing yellow ones. His confusion was written all over his face. Was this monster trying to make a deal with him?

 

_No! Why?! Why do you still want me alive?! You said it yourself that I'm broken! If I am broken that what use am I to you?!_

 

Obi-wan clumsily walked around Chopper base. Dark bags under his eyes. He rubbed his arms through his sleeves. Goosebumps rose everywhere on his body and they wouldn't stop. He held his breath as he kept tears from falling from his eyes. He could feel Maul. He could feel everything that was happening to him. He knew that he could feel things that happened to Maul through their bond, but this felt worse than the fever. This made him want to die. This feeling of pain, dread, and hopelessness. Whatever was happening to his mate he swore he wouldn't stop trying to free him until his last breath. 

"Master Kenobi, are you feeling alright? What are you doing?" Ezra blocked Obi-wan's path to the ships.

"We have to save him." Obi-wan's voice was tiny,

"Master Kenobi, we're not yet ready. Galen isn't even fully healed yet." Ezra said not letting Obi-wan pass him.

"Bantha shit Ezra! Ready or not, Jedi went out to battle the Sith. I will not let Maul suffer in there at who's ever hands. I do not care if you and your friends are ready or not. I am going to save my mate, with or without you." Obi-wan shouts and pushes Ezra aside than marches towards the ships.

 

Maul was left alone hanging in his chamber. The monster had left. His stomach constantly roared demanding for food. He had to find some kind of food. Anything would do. But he had to break free first. 

_The chains. The chains are the easy part._

Maul dared not to look back up at his crisped hands. He looked down at his legs. He was able to move them. He bent his legs and placed his feet flat against the wall. Taking deep rapid breaths, Maul pushed himself forward as if he was launching himself at someone to attack them. Nothing. 

He threw himself forward again and heard the metal start to moan under the stress as Maul pulled. He pulled again and again until the chains finally snapped. He fell harshly to the ground and he groaned through his teeth not trying to get the Imperials to hear him. 

He tried to stand by whenever he came close to standing pain seared through his body. Seems like he'll just have to crawl around. His body still shook. Electricity still coursing through his body as it laid upon the cold ground. He looked at his hands, they weren't burnt to a crisp. His hand were perfectly fine besides being numb.

He searched the entire room and all he found was a small hole in the wall at the floor possibly connecting to the hallway or to another room. Maul was able to shove his hands into the hole. He curled his fingers trying to rip the hole bigger, he could possibly shove the bed into the corner to hide the hole.

"Maul?" A female voice spoke and he heard someone walking in the room next to his. The next thing he knows there's a soft hand resting on his.

"Lady... Tano?" Maul's voice was nothing over a raspy whisper.

"Yes it's me, Maul, how did you get in here?" Ahsoka's voice spoke and he felt her thumb rubbing his hand.

"I had... joined your friends to help them... defeat Vader." Maul said enjoying the feeling of her hand in his. "Lady Tano," Maul said after a pause.

"Yes, Maul?" Ahsoka answered

"He's alive." Maul roughly laughed "Kenobi is alive... and here I am captured..."

"Don't think of it like that Maul, we will get out of here." Ahsoka squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"I don't know Lady Tano, I can't take much more before I... fall again." Maul said softly

"Think of Master Obi-wan, Maul, we'll be free soon. Kanan and the others will be here soon." Ashoka reassured him.

"I hope you are right Lady Tano..." Maul's voice faded, "But Obi-wan won't want to look at me anymore. What Sidious did can not be hidden

"Say, Lady Tano, I don't expect that you have any food over there." Maul said and he felt the hand disappear, but he didn't hear any footsteps. He didn't feel or hear anything for what felt like forever.

"Lady Tano?" Maul's voice pitched high with some worry then he felt something be placed in his hand.

"I'm still here Maul. I only have a small rations bar to give to you, it's my last one. Imperial guards come around every two or three days with food. Droids if we're lucky. My best guess is that they're trying to break you by starving you out." Ahsoka said as Maul pulled his hands back. He looked at the small rations bar, he wanted to just eat it all now, but in the five days he's been in there, he would agree with Lady Tano's hypothesis. He took a small bite out of the rations bar.

"And you can call me Ahsoka." Her voice came through the hole.

"No. Anyone I ever get too close to ends up getting killed, Lady Tano. I thank you for your friendship, even after everything I have done to you and your friends." Maul spoke hiding the rations bar under his bed.

"I know the things you've done are questionable, Maul, but I can see as well as Master Obi-wan can that your intentions are good." Ashoka replied to him and he opened his mouth to speak again until he heard footsteps. 

"Quiet Lady Tano." Maul said as he turned and laid against the hole to hide it. His body still shook from the electricity. He let it body relax against the metal flooring and his head be propped up by the wall. Soon the door to his chamber opened up to reveal the monster.

"I haven't broken you yet. No... not yet." Sidious hissed looking back and forth at where Maul was hanging to where he is laying.

"Have you thought about my proposal to you?" Sidious questioned Maul.

"Never. I would never join the likes of you. Never again." Maul hissed

"It is unwise to deny my request." Sidious commented

"You'll have to kill me before you get any answers from me. I will never do anything more for the Sith. How they've fallen to deal with droids." Maul tried to piss them off.

"Taunting me will not work. You will work with me sooner or later, once you're part of the dark side, you're always a part of the dark side. Even you proved that one Maul." Sidious said and an IT-O Interrogation droid floated into the chamber.

"Our droids will hopefully convince you that returning to the dark side is the best thing to do." Sidious said and Maul wanted to snarl at the droid, but he remained calm.

"How the Sith have fallen, you can't break me with your methods, so you send in a droid." Maul taunted

"You will see that you would rather have me torturing you. I was merciful to you, my old apprentice. This droid, however, holds no mercy." Sidious spoke and he left Maul in the chamber alone with the droid.


	2. Contact

Kanan leaned against the ship's wall. He used his force to feel around the ship. Everyone was agitated with their plan that they were forced to agree upon. Galen although thought Obi-wan's idea was a good one, thought it was also suicide to carry out the plan so soon. Obi-wan was headstrong and determined to free Maul. Kanan was surprised that someone at his age could take Zeb down so quickly. Yet he just thought it was due to him being a true master at the Force. 

Obi-wan's Force spiked a second with surprise and fear. Kanan sensed the old Jedi yank a hand away from the steering wheel of the ship.

"Master Kenobi?" Kanan quickly walked over to him. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, Kanan. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Obi-wan said placing his hand down in his lap as he used the other to fly the ship.

"Maybe you should let me fly for a while Master Kenobi." Hera spoke up and Obi-wan gave her a quick glance that she felt like she was pushed.

"I am completely fine. Worry about yourselves and pray that we get to that ship in time. If Maul is hurt in any way, I hold everyone except for Galen responsible." Obi-wan snapped at them and kept flying the ship. Kanan could tell through the Force that the old Jedi had meant what he said too. He felt that Obi-wan's Force signature was different than how they first encountered him nearly a month and two weeks ago. His signature was calm, soothing and controlled. Now it erratic, angered, and controlled. Kanan knew that if they wanted to make the trip without being chopped to little bits, he would have to keep everyone a distance or see if he can get the old master into a meditation session. They had seen him go into two sessions and after then everyone was astonished to see that Obi-wan seemed to be weaker, not mentally, but physically. He took a bit longer to stand up from meditating. It had concerned everyone, but Kanan could tell that it hadn't had any kind of alarm to Obi-wan. If Kanan was right Obi-wan was only in his mid 40's, he shouldn't be having any problems especially with being Force sensitive. He had confronted Obi-wan about it after the second time and the only answer that Kanan got was 'I'm perfectly fine Kanan, everything is alright. There's no need for you all to be alarmed, it is only a slight side effect.' A side effect of what he didn't know, but Ezra and the others have caught him spacing out and holding his chest. Kanan had also asked about it and he got the same answer as before. He trusted Obi-wan knew what he was talking about, but he couldn't help but worry about Obi-wan.

 

Ahsoka sat in her chamber covering her ears. She couldn't stand the sound of Maul screaming. She never could, not even when she had heard Kanan and Maul fighting when Maul fell over the edge of the Sith Temple. She didn't know how many days it had been but from the repeating pattern of Maul's screams, she could tell that there was about a 2 or 3 hours silence before they started again.  She had only guessed it was nighttime when she hadn't heard his screams for many hours.

The screaming had stopped. She rushed over to the hole in the wall that connected her room to his. She waited to hear the chamber door to shut before she spoke.

"Maul." She spoke quietly as she didn't know if they were recording them. She waited for a moment for his reply or to hear a shuffling noise, but there was nothing.

"Maul?!" She spoke a bit louder concerned after another moment she heard a groan and a noise that sounded like metal dragging against metal. Then she saw his hands appear reaching for hers.

"I'm here Maul." She said as she held his hands rubbing them with her thumbs.

"Don't... let me... sleep." She barely heard his voice. It was rough and barely above a hoarse whisper.

"Don't let you sleep? But why Maul? You need to sleep to keep your strength." Ahsoka asked worried she knew at this rate he had to have sleep.

"Nightmares." Was his only answer to her in his quiet voice. "They're... in my head! I don't... know how. I... I... I can't sleep." 

"Don't worry Maul, I'll help keep you awake the best I can Maul." Ahsoka said squeezing his hand comfortingly 

"Thank... you... Lady Tano." Maul croaked out 

"Anything to help you, Maul." Ahsoka smiled at the wall like she was looking right at him. Not long after that, they both had taken their hands back to themselves when they heard their doors open up.

Ahsoka placed her back against the wall and pulled her knees up to her chest. She acted as if she was falling asleep in the corner. The Officer took no notice of her position and placed her food down on a small table that was bolted to the floor. She could hear everything that was going on in Maul's chamber.

The sound of a tray being tossed to the ground rang through Maul's chamber into Ahsoka's.

"It's dinner time filth." An Officer's voice spoke in Maul's chamber. Ahsoka could barely hear Maul's snarl as footsteps echoed from Maul's chamber

"Go on crawl to your food like a good pet." The Officers voice taunted Maul. Ahsoka could hear it in his voice that he was smiling. Maul's snarl got a bit louder.

"I said crawl!" The sound of the Officer's boot hitting Maul hard echoed. Maul's snarling stopped for a moment before continuing.

"Looks like you still need to be taught some manners." The Officer commented and the sound multiple kicks connecting with Maul's body could be heard outside of the chambers letting other officers hear the assault yet no one did anything to stop it. 

Ahsoka waited and hugged her knees. It was all she could do. There was no way of her helping him. She wished that there was a way for her to help him. 

When the sound of Maul's chamber door shutting ricocheted throughout the hallways Ahsoka reached her hand into Maul's chamber hoping to grab any part of him. She couldn't feel him within her arm's length.

"Maul?" She pulled her arm back through and looked into the hole. She saw him just laying there. Just outside of her arm's reach.

"Maul, are you alright?" She called into his room. She reached her arm back through hoping she could reach him. Suddenly she felt a hand on hers making her jump. She could hear a weak laughter.

"It is... just I... Lady Tano." Maul spoke and Ahsoka let out a breath of relief.

"Are you okay Maul?" Ahsoka couldn't help but ask that useless question. She knew he was hurt.

"I... fear... that I am slipping... into sleep, Lady Tano." Maul slowly whispered. "The Darkness... is consuming... I don't know... if I will be able... to handle... another empty and alone nightmare... Lady Tano."   
Maul's grip tightened on her hand.

"Keep talking to me, Maul, you don't have to sleep. Tell me about Master Obi-wan." Ahsoka suggested hoping it would keep him awake.

"He's... safe... alive. Oh so alive... He may look older... but his skills are still... as sharp and... deadly as ever." Maul said as he laid there.

"I... had feared we would... become separated... I offered him... a chance to live... in peace... away from this... Empire... with me....." Maul's voice had faded making it difficult for her to understand his mumbles and his grip loosened on her hand.

"Speak up Maul. Don't fall asleep." Ahsoka shook her hand moving his arm.

"You Jedi... never give up... on the galaxy... even if.... it cost you... you're life." Maul spoke up again

"We protect others to make sure that they're safe." Ahsoka commented and she heard him laugh weakly.

"Does that...  make me... a Jedi now... that I had... protected... Obi-wan... Satine.... Feral... and your friends?" Maul's laughter continued and Ahsoka joined him.

"Perhaps you're on your way to the light side, Maul." Ahsoka smiled at the wall

"Perhaps...." Maul's laughter faded out into silence.

"Maul?" Ahsoka's smile faded hearing only silence. She moved her arm, shaking his, yet no response.

"Maul, wake up!" Ahsoka got worried and move yanked his arm towards her hoping to wake him. Yet there was still no response. Maul had fallen asleep and Ahsoka could only hope that the conversation they had pushed his mind into making him have a good dream for once. She held his hand rubbing it with her thumb hoping her physical contact with him would lead him into a better dream as well.


	3. Distortion

"Lost..." Maul looks around trying to see something. Anything out there in the distance. Sand. That was all he could see. He could be on any planet in the entire galaxy. He turned around thinking he saw someone walk behind him.   
He could only see sand. There was no one. Only him. He looks up to the sun and covers his eyes from the brightness, to see twin suns. He still had no idea where he was. There were thousands of desert planets with twin suns.

"I am lost!" He announced to the empty space. He knew then where he was. Tattooine.

 _There! Turn around!_ His mind screamed at him and he quickly turned around again to only see sand. His skin felt like it was boiling under the hot suns.

"I can see him..." Maul says as he takes more steps through the desert.

"I can feel his presence... so close." Maul growls to himself.

"I can see him... in my mind's eye..." Maul's voice turns sad as he walks exhausted from the heat.

"Kenobi..." Maul's voice edges and sharpens as he sees canyon-like walls jut out from the desert miles away.

"KENOBIIIIIIII!!" He screamed falling to his knees in the sand. 

_So close!_ His mind screams at him as he stays kneeling in the scorching sand. _Yet so far! Just a little bit farther! Get up! He's just ahead!_

Maul takes deep breaths as he regathers himself. He looks to his right hand to see his cane still attached to his lightsaber. But he stopped connecting them when he first began the search for Obi-wan. Began his search? No. He knew where Obi-wan was all along right? Yes, after connecting the holocrons together, he went right to Feral and they had looked for the scroll that would help merge his and Ezra's mind together, then he found out that Obi-wan was on Tattooine. Right? 

_That is what happened... is it? I remember two different things._

Maul dug through his memory. Yes, it had to be true! It had to be! Yet then why does he remember embarking out alone to look for Obi-wan? Why does he feel like... he's the last one? Why doesn't he remember Feral?! He searches through his memory. He can't even remember what his brother's face looks like! 

Brother? No. Savage was his only brother. It's impossible for him to have another brother. His mother would have told him if he had another brother! 

He dug further into his memories. Obi-wan. His sweet sweet Jedi. His mate. The one he would die for. 

No. His rival. His enemy. The one who stole everything from him! The one who left him to die. To bleed out. The coward who hid from the Order! The one who makes his blood boil hotter than any sun. The weak Jedi who deserved to die. 

_What? No! Obi-wan can never die! I would be what I was! I can't handle that again!_

Maul stared at his bare wrist. Barren of the scars that had littered them with his past attempts to join the Force. His wrists were clean! No! He distinctly remembers digging whatever sharp thing he could into them!

Does he? 

Yes!

Satine was there always to cut his nails to make sure he couldn't scratch his wrists away.

No. That couldn't be. He remembers stabbing her through in front of Obi-wan on Mandalore. He became the ruler of Mandalore!

No! That can't be! He is the General of the Mandalorian Army second highest in control on the entire planet! He would never kill Satine! She helped him! 

No! She stole Obi-wan from him! She made Obi-wan fall in love with her! She had to die! His revenge on Obi-wan would be complete.

No! No! No! No! None of that can be right! It all goes against each other! Nothing adds up correctly! Everything is different!

"Will it end here?" Maul begged to know to the wind. "Like this?" Maul had no clue what his past was. No clue of what he'll do when he finds Obi-wan. Would it be the Obi-wan from one memory or from another or from an absolutely different one? He didn't know.

"No." He growled determined to get through this. He will find out which is truly the reality that he truly traveled down and which one was the liar. 

"No!" He stood up and kept walking toward the canyon-like walls. He would find Obi-wan and he would be determined to figure out the truth.


	4. Those Nightmares

Maul laid there with his arm outstretched toward a cold metal wall with a hole in it. He was confused. Where was he? No! He was just on Tattooine looking for Obi-wan. He had to get out and find Obi-wan. He sat up to feel a sharp deep pain in his chest. He found it hard to breathe. He had to calm down quickly he felt his breaths get shorter each panicked breath.  
His nails scratched his chest and before he knew it an Officer rushed in. Maul ignore him as he gulped painful deep breaths. He passed out when other officers rushed into the room shouting that they needed to get Maul to the infirmary.

 

He felt his body be laid down onto a bed in a white room then his sight when black again.

 

The next moment he could see droids above him. They were blurry he could tell what kind of droids they were. Adrenaline flooded his body and he tried to crawl away and escape the droids. He held his breath as he tried to push the droids away.They held him down and one of the droids gave Maul a shot. Maul looked around he felt suddenly sleepy and his body went completely numb to him. He laid back down on the bed and slipped into sleep.

 

Maul found himself approaching an Old Jedi sitting near a fire. _Obi-wan!_ His heart cried happily. As he got closer he could see that Obi-wan was sitting next to his old apprentice. 

Old apprentice? No. Ezra was still his. He would not give up on Ezra. Not just yet. 

When they noticed him Ezra stood up ready to fight until Obi-wan told the young apprentice something. He couldn't hear what they were saying. Maul growled quietly trying to hear them. He watches Obi-wan lead Ezra to some large creature and Ezra fleeing from them.

"See you soon apprentice." Maul couldn't help but say as Obi-wan turned back around to him. Then he sighed scanning the old Jedi. "Look at what has become of you. A rat in the desert."

"And look at what I have risen above." Obi-wan comments back

"I've come to kill you." The words just fall out of Maul's mouth. _What? No! Never! No Obi-wan please I didn't mean it!_ His words fail to reach his mouth before more words come spilling out. "But perhaps it's worse to leave you here. Festering in your squalor."

"If you define yourself by your power to take life, desire to dominate, to possess, then you have nothing." Obi-wan replied and Maul felt his anger boil as he disconnected his cane from this lightsaber igniting it. He swung it into the sand causing it to put out the fire.

"And what do you have?!" Maul growled at him only his lightsaber illuminated the area and he felt his rage decrease slightly. He felt insane. "Why come to this place? Not simply to hide. Oh, you have a purpose here. Perhaps you are protecting something. No protecting someone!" 

At that statement, Obi-wan ignited his lightsaber and ignited a battle. Maul charged at Obi-wan. The battle felt familiar to Maul. Like it happened before. Every step every swing of a lightsaber. Their lightsabers clashed again and again. The remembrance was upsetting Maul's stomach and mind.

Yet it was cut short. Maul went to hit his lightsaber hilt against Obi-wan's head to knock him out until the blue lightsaber swiped downward cutting his lightsaber in half. Yet another move he remembered, but from nearly 30 years ago much longer than the déjà vu he was having. Then he noticed something. He was directly underneath of his lightsaber. Obi-wan's saber cut right through his shoulder to the middle of his chest. 

It had shocked both of them. Both wide-eyed. It was over. They both stood there staring at each other. What was that they saw in their eyes? Was it regret?

The starring ended when Maul's body started to shake and his arms fell. The three lightsabers deactivated. As Maul dropped his, Obi-wan threw his to the ground. As Maul started to fall Obi-wan caught him resting Maul's body in his lap.

"Kenobi, did things really have to end this way? We could have been... Is it 'The Chosen One'?" Maul begged looking up at Obi-wan trying to keep his eyes open.

"Yes, my old adversary, he is." Obi-wan says holding Maul's body to him.

"Things could have been... better between us, Kenobi." Maul's eyes water as he tries to keep eye contact with Obi-wan.

"If only you could have gotten rid of your need for revenge." Obi-wan held Maul's body closer to him. His arms were beginning to shake. Was he sad for the death of an enemy?

"The Chosen One... he will avenge us... Kenobi." Maul said grabbing Obi-wan's cloak with the last of his strength before he drawled his last breath. 

Obi-wan watched and felt Maul's body go limp in his arms. He took one last look at Maul's yellow and red eyes before he shut his eyes. Obi-wan held Maul's body tightly against his. He felt as if he could cry an ocean into the desert. 

"Things could have been different, if only you had let your revenge go. They could have been different." Obi-wan whispered before laying Maul down onto the sand.

 

Maul gasped as he woke up back in his chambers. Adrenaline pumped through his body. He went to quickly sit up and gather his surroundings until a sharp pain stopped him. He laid back down and looked down at his body. His torso had been wrapped up. What did the droids do to him? He took some deep breaths, there was only a little bit of pain, unlike the constant sharp pain that was there before. He sighed as he laid there. Was it still night? Or did it turn to day? How long was he in that room? How long would it be until the monster comes back? Would it be him? Or would he send in another droid?

 

Days had passed. How long had it been now? Maul was quiet as he counted the nights that had passed. 49 nights had passed.

The most recent nights had taken its biggest toll on Maul. 

_Is he really alive? Or am I just believing what I want to?_

It was the only thought that had ran through his mind. There. The voice is back. But, who's voice was it? The lady next door. What was her name? Maul pushed it aside. It wasn't important. Nothing was now. He could barely remember why or even how he was captured. The nightmares took too much space in his mind now. The same death scene keeps replaying in Maul's mind. Obi-wan's death. He was shot. He died in his arms. 

No! Maul didn't want to think of it now! 

He curled up the best he could as he held his head and closed his eyes. Every dream he had of dying seemed so real to him. He thought this torture would finally be over. 

His body was so thin now. He was hungry. All his hidden stash was gone now. They cut his meals down to once every 5 nights. There was something in his mind telling him how to nourish his body without food, but he just couldn't remember! No matter how hard he reached for the knowledge he was blocked by the memory of many nightmares. He could clear his mind, but even that took so much energy out of him and gave him barely any energy back and it was a time waster. It made the torture come faster. 

Every time the monster came in the room he asked Maul if he would work with him. Why did this monster want Maul to work for him? Maul couldn't remember. But maybe if he said yes it would stop. Maybe the torture would stop. Maybe he could finally get to feel his legs again. Maybe he would actually be able to walk again. Maybe he would get his voice back. Maybe he would finally say yes. Maybe he would stop saying no and stop being silent.

What did his voice sound like? What was it like to walk? What was it like to not be tortured for a day? A week? Maybe even a month! Maybe working for this creature wouldn't be so bad.

As Maul drifted in his thoughts Ahsoka was calling him from the hole that was hidden by his bed. Maul's body relaxed as he thought about not being tortured for once. What a paradise! What a vacation it would be for his numb body! Maybe he would say yes.


	5. Trapped

Finally! They found it! There was no doubt about it! After weeks of looking, they finally found the ship! Obi-wan felt happiness yet dread as they docked onto the Imperial ship. Galen had tricked the officers that he was the only person on the ship after they docked to buy them some time to find Maul. Hera had ordered Rex to stay in the ship with Chopper and to take it out of the Executor in case if something goes wrong.

However, it wasn't long after docking onto the Executor when they encountered the Sith Lord.

"Starkiller, your reappearance here was inevitable. However, your alliance with these Rebels appalls me." Sidious spoke blocking the hallway.

"I am disappointed that you have failed to kill your apprentice, Vader." Sidious shunned his apprentice as Imperial Royal guards surrounded them. 

The battle was over before it could have started. All of them stood a chance against Vader, but not against Sidious, and 7 Royal Guards. Along with the Imperial officers that surrounded around the Royal Guards, they were trapped.

"Take Starkiller to a separate chamber and put the Rebels and the old man along with the other prisoner. I am sure he would like some company." Sidious ordered and the Royal guards separated Galen from the others as a group of officers led the rest of the Rebels down many corridors.

Obi-wan was calm as ever as an officers led him and his friends though many twisting and turning corridors. Everyone, but Obi-wan and Feral, was nervous. Another guard had separated them from Galen and that made them worry for their new friend. No matter how the plan went though they all agreed once they boarded the ship that they would carry out the plan. The leading officer stopped at a door. Another guard had took Satine, Sabine and Hera to the next door down the hall and pushed them inside the chamber. The guard with the rest of the Rebels was about to open it until another officer with a tray of food stopped next to him. The both laughed realizing what they had in store for their new prisoners.

"I see it's feeding time for that animal!" The leading officer laughed

"Animal? He's less than that! The Sessions he's gone through turned him into nothing. He doesn't move or say anything these days." The officer holding the food remarked. Obi-wan kept his calm look, but on the inside he was panicking. What were they about to see? Nervousness built in everyone there as the officer that led them there punched a code into a pad controlling the door.

"Boy, these prisoners are in for a show!" The officer holding the tray exclaimed before the door opened to show a chamber nearly empty. The only furniture inside was a bed on one side and a toilet on the other. Than they could see a thin, nearly motionless body covered with what one would only describe as grey rags with holes in them.

"Hey! Pet! It's chow time!" The officer with the tray shouted walking into the room. Once he was through, the other Officer pushed Obi-wan inside the chamber. The body didn't stir. Once inside Obi-wan could see the black and red skin than the anorexic body bore along with the horns that crowned his head. The facade was over. The blood in Obi-wan's drain as his jaw fell.

"Shit man, is he dead?" The leading officer asked

"I can't tell." The officer holding the food just threw the tray letting the food fall off as it hit the ground. He turned and walked to the other officer.

"Maul!" Obi-wan shouted and ran over to Maul's body. He fell to his knees and shook the body. "Maul! Wake up!" As he knelt next to Maul's body he saw the large scar that ran down the side of Maul's face.

The officer took the electrostaff from the leading officer, who just stood in the doorway after the others were pushed into the chamber. Without warning to Obi-wan, who was reaching out to touch the new scar, the officer activated the staff and swung it at Obi-wan hitting him away from Maul's body.

"Hey!" Feral snapped taking a step toward the guard, but Zeb held him back.

The officer then jabbed Maul's chest with the activated staff and it sent an electrical plus through Maul's body, but he still didn't move. Another jab to the same spot and Maul's eyes flashed open. His body twisted and turned from the electricity. A very hoarse scream was ripped from Maul's throat until the guard decided that Maul was well enough alive and pulled the staff away deactivating it. Leaving Maul shaking from the electricity and a hole in the shirt where the staff had hit him.

"He must have been sleeping." The first officer suggested 

"I guess well, at least we don't need to tell the Emperor that his torture toy had died." The other officer said and they both left the chamber locking the door behind them. Obi-wan and Feral went to move towards Maul until Maul had turned himself onto his stomach. Maul had pulled himself over to where his food was thrown. His legs just dragged behind him as he didn't register that there were other people in the room. They all watched in horror as Maul ate his food in silence like what had happened was an everyday experience. 

"Maul." Obi-wan's heartbroken voice broken the silence, but it still didn't register to Maul. Obi-wan walked over slowly and touched Maul's shoulder he swore he could still feel electricity coursing through Maul. Maul jumped looking over his shoulder and his eyes grew wide, but not in happiness, but in horror and terror.

"Brother!" Feral called out breaking free of Zeb's hold. He ran over and fell to his knees next to Obi-wan. Maul pulled himself away from them. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He shook his head in disbelief.

"Brother, everything's fine now, we're here to rescue you!" Feral said reaching out to Maul for the young brother to watch his brother flinch and jump back.

"My God what did they do to him?" Ezra spoke and Obi-wan could feel tears threatening to fall.

"Maul, it's me. There's no need to move away. We're not going to hurt you." Obi-wan spoke moving closer to Maul until a voice not from inside the room spoke.

"Master Kenobi?" The voice rang with familiarity to Obi-wan.

"Ahsoka!" Ezra shouted happily. "Where are you?"

"The chamber next to Maul's there should be a hole in the wall near the floor somewhere." Her voice instructed not seeing a hole anywhere, Ezra looked under the bed.

"Ahsoka, is that you in there?" Ezra asked looking through the hole.

"Yes, it's me! Is Master Kenobi in there?" She asked quickly

"Yes. He is. But he looks broken at just seeing Maul." Ezra said looking at Obi-wan who looked too afraid to touch Maul.

"Why won't Maul talk?" Ezra asked looking back at Ahsoka

"It's because he can't. Not from what happened to him. Ezra, you can not let Maul be hurt again. Do not let Sidious in there!" Ahsoka begged

Ezra heard metal scraping against the floor and he looked over at Maul. Maul had panicked at hearing Sidious' name. Obi-wan was trying to calm him down.

"Maul, it's ok! Everything's alright, he's not here." Obi-wan said grabbing Maul's shoulder stopping him from retreating further. "I'm here Maul." Obi-wan's voice was soft and sweet sound to Maul's ears, yet Maul shook his head as he held his head in his hands. Maul couldn't believe it. This had to be some dream. Some trick. Some nightmare. But when Obi-wan pulled him into a hug, Maul could feel a weight on his chest be lifted. What was the weight? Maul couldn't figure it out, but when he was in Obi-wan's arms, he felt calmer. He relaxed against Obi-wan he felt like he could, just fall asleep into a peaceful dreamless sleep.

"Who did this to my brother?" Feral snarled with his fist clenched tightly his nails digging into his palms causing blood to slowly leak out of his hands. Anger and rage filling him.

"Feral, you must calm yourself." Ahsoka's voice echoed into the room. "During Maul's torture sessions, I overheard Sidious saying he'll break Maul down like he did when Maul first rebelled against Sidious. If I'm right Maul is very impressionable at the moment. The slightest sign of the dark or the light side that's not from Sidious or I can dramatically change him."

"My brother is hurt and you're telling me to calm down?!" Feral snarl echoed through the chamber as he tried to control himself. 

"No Feral. She's not tell you to calm down, I am." Obi-wan's voice stayed calm as he held Maul close to him.

"Obi-wan how are you staying calm at a moment like this? Look at Maul. Look at your mate!" Feral started

"I can see as clearly as you can Feral. I see what's happened to him, but getting angry right now is not something we can be. I know Maul trained you and he's your only brother left, but if you get angry now you could be falling right into Sidious' hand. I am asking you Feral, sit, meditate. We will have our chance." Obi-wan patted the floor next to him and Feral took a deep breath then sat next to Obi-wan.

Kanan watched as Feral and Obi-wan went into meditation. Kanan didn't need the Force or his sight to tell the controlled rage Obi-wan had inside of him. Kanan walked over to them he went to place a hand on Maul, but he sensed Obi-wan put his own Force around Maul as a shield of sorts. Kanan back away to his friends thinking.

"Maul's asleep right now." Kanan spoke softly.

"I never thought I'd see Maul like this." Ezra said sitting against the wall.

"Ahsoka what do you have to say in this?" Kanan asked calmly

"Sidious was Maul's old master. From what I could tell Maul's training was harsh since the day Sidious took Maul from his family. Maul was defiant in the beginning so Sidious had to break Maul force him to think that the dark side was his only salvation." Ahsoka explained it to them.

"So Sidious was trying to do it again to him." Ezra added

"Yes, but I think it took Sidious longer for Maul to break when he was younger because his family was still alive and he hadn't know Master Kenobi back then." Ahsoka's voice paused for a moment. "Now before the torturing, Maul had told me Sidious had killed everyone."

"Everyone?" Ezra questioned

"Everyone. Sidious had killed his mother, his other brother Savage, every Nightbrother, every Nightsister, every Mandalorians that was on Dathomir, everyone on Mandalore and Zanbar and he had ordered Order 66 that had left Master Kenobi dead in his arms. Maul had been haunted by their deaths and Sidious had been using all of his guilt and his regrets against him." Ahsoka explained to him. 

"There has to be a way out of here." Ezra said looking around the room with Kanan and Zeb also looking for weaknesses. All action and voices stopped when everyone, but Maul and Obi-wan, where thrown and held against the walls. Obi-wan glared at the door struggling against the Force then was pushing everyone against the walls.

After a moment of the Rebels and Feral's struggling, Sidious walked into the chamber.

"Ah, Kenobi," The old man started "I see after Order 66 that you've actually grown stronger."

"I am stronger than you can ever imagine." Obi-wan snapped at the Emperor.

"That is exactly what my old apprentice said when he first denied my offer to him." Sidious sneered as he used the Force to toss Maul away from Obi-wan. Maul snapped awake upon the impact against the ground. Obi-wan went to stand up to fight Sidious until he was also caught in the same force as his friends. Obi-wan ended up pinned against the wall next to Feral.  Maul looked around the chamber at his friends terrorized and had started to crawl away from Sidious.

"Now than Maul," Sidious spoke as he slowly approached Maul. "You can stop the pain by just saying yes."

"Don't listen to him, Maul!" Obi-wan shouted cutting the old Sith off. He went to speak again until Sidious started choking him. 

"Stop that you old bastard!" Feral snarled as Obi-wan clawed at the invisible force around his neck. After a moment of thinking, Sidious had an idea.

"I said stop choking him before I come over there and rip your heart out!" Feral struggled against the force until he noticed that Obi-wan was no longer being choked. "Are you alright Obi-wan?" 

"I'll be fine." Obi-wan replied to him

"Maul. Surely you remember who these two are." Sidious spoke pulling Obi-wan and Feral into the middle of the room using the Force to hold them still. Maul looked between Sidious and the two family members he had left in his life. He would occasionally forget about Feral, but then he would remember.  
Maul nodded.

"What are you doing bastard?!" Feral snapped again trying to look back at Sidious. His rage filling and fueling him. After a second, Sidious began attacking Obi-wan with Force Lighting.

"Hey! Stop hurting him you sick bastard." Feral yelled at the Emperor and the Lighting ceased. Feral's voice softened when he looked at Obi-wan. "Obi-wan." Was all he could say before the Jedi answered

"I'm fine, he can hurt me all he likes," Obi-wan started

"Don't say that Obi-wan. That sick bastard should be rotting away on a barren planet." Feral began to say before Obi-wan was struck with lighting again. Suddenly, Feral broke out of the hold and got in between Sidious and Obi-wan taking the brunt of the lightning. After just a couple of seconds, the lightning stopped. Feral collapsed to the ground never use to being hit by the Force Lighting before.

"Feral!" Obi-wan was freed from the hold and he kneeled down quickly next to the young Zabrak. He slowly helped Feral sit up. "Are you alright, Feral?"

"Look at that, Maul." Sidious started and Maul looked at Obi-wan helping Feral. "Your beloved mate is helping your brother. Kenobi would rather make sure your brother is fine instead of you." 

Suddenly Maul couldn't help, but growl as he remembered how Obi-wan in the past had declared that Savage would be a better mate than he would. Except now, instead of Savage, it was Feral.

"Your beloved mate would rather help your brother instead of you. How does that make you feel Maul?" Sidious taunted than as Maul growled he began to stand up on his numb legs, his rage fueling him.

"Maul?" Adrenaline shot through Obi-wan's body as he looked back at Maul, who's eyes were filled with rage. "Maul, don't listen to him." Obi-wan guarded Feral's stunned body. Maul continued to growl furiously as he approached Obi-wan and Feral.


	6. Panic

Obi-wan watches as Maul stalks up on them.  The old Jedi force pushes Feral out of the line of harm. Maul paused for a moment deciding who he should go after. Feral was already temporarily disabled due to his master's attack. 

"Attack them!" Sidious commanded and Maul watched as Obi-wan slowly got up.

"Maul, we don't have to fight." Obi-wan spoke in a soft voice as Maul started to circle around him."Brother! You must calm yourself!" Feral snapped at Maul as he weakly stood up.

"Feral! Stay out of this!" Obi-wan demanded as Maul had turned to his brother.

"You can't possibly win in hand to hand combat with Maul." Feral snarled at Obi-wan as he kept his eyes on Maul

"And you are in no condition to fight." Obi-wan stated

"I stand a better chance than you do in winning." Feral snarled as he and Maul circled each other.

"End this banter, Lord Maul. Finish them." Sidious demanded and Maul had tackled Feral to the ground. Obi-wan watched helplessly as the two brothers wrestled on the ground. Their nails gouging deep tunnels into the other's skin. They were biting each other whenever they saw the opportunity rise.

Once Feral kicked Maul off of him, he stood up and threw the first punch that uppercut his brother. Maul quickly returned punching Feral across the face than in the stomach.

"Feral, keep your distance from him." Kanan shouted after Feral fell to the floor. "Master Kenobi's right there is no way you'll be able to defeat him. He has too much experience in fighting, you'll only be able to land a few hits on him."

Feral quickly dodged out of the way from a kick.

"You have to wear him out. Dodge and block as much as you can. That's the only possible way you can win!" Obi-wan added.

Sidious watched silently studying Maul's and Feral's moves. Sidious was interested in Feral's moves and how he planned to survive Maul's assault. No matter how much he tried sooner or later Feral got hit by a punch or a kick. If Sidious remembered correctly Feral is also Force-sensitive, so why wasn't he using the Force? 

 _How curious,_ Sidious thought. The old man knew that even though the young Zabrak didn't fight with the Force the security tapes showed him using the force.

Not much longer after Sidious stopped thinking Maul's leg connected with Feral's head quickly ending the fight. It was obvious that the young Zabrak must have had some kind of head damage. He didn't move or breath as he laid on the ground. Sidious watched with a smirk as Maul picked him up by the neck.

Obi-wan watched terrified he tried to move, but something was holding him in place.

As Maul raised his limp brother's body into the air, suddenly Feral kicked Maul in the stomach and punched him in the face, breaking Maul's nose. Before Maul could pull his hand away from Feral's neck, Feral grabbed Maul's arm and flipped Maul over him slamming Maul into the ground. Everyone watched and listen as bones cracked on the impact. Maul's shoulder was noticeably broken as it just fell to the ground after Feral released it.

Sidious frown as Maul stood back up growling ferociously and Feral then used the Force to slam Maul into the wall. The sound of Maul's horns cracking as his head slammed against the wall. Feral's legs were shaking weakly as Maul took a step towards Feral, his vision fading in and out. The younger Zabrak fell to his knees feeling lightheaded from the blood loss and Maul collapsed to the ground from the concussion the same moment Feral had passed out.

"How disappointing." Sidious snarled and left the chamber.

Everyone was released from the wall and everyone could see the blood was everywhere draining from the two Zabrak brothers.

"Maul! Feral!" Obi-wan shouted running over to them. Obi-wan had kneeled in the pool of their blood. Obi-wan picked Maul's body up to rest on his knees and he shook him determined to wake him up. "Maul, wake up!"

Obi-wan placed his ear against Maul's chest to hear his twin hearts beating slowly. A flicker of hope raced through Obi-wan. He had carefully placed Maul's body back on the ground and he scuffed over to Feral's body. Like he did with Maul, Obi-wan placed an ear on Feral's chest to barely hear his hearts beat. Many thoughts raced through Obi-wan's mind as he tried to think of what to do. He looked up at the stunned Rebels in panic as if they had any answers. Before anyone could say anything, a blonde Imperial Officer stepped into the chamber. He was shocked by what he saw. Obi-wan turned to see him and Obi-wan placed Feral down. 

"Get out of here, Imperial scum." Obi-wan stood defensively between the officer and the near-death Zabrak brothers.

"I suppose this is a new friend of yours." The officer spoke

"It's fine, Master Kenobi, he's a friend." Kanan calmly placed a hand on Obi-wan's shoulder.

"I am Agent Kallus," The Officer said to Obi-wan than looked at Kanan. "I had heard a fight happening and I brought a couple of medical droids. I knew that Rebels had been captured, but I wasn't expecting you all to be the willing ones to be captured." 

"A friend of ours had been captured and this was the only way we knew how to get him out." Ezra spoke up and the droids went over to Maul and Feral. 

"I've been trying to figure out who was in here for weeks, but this room had been heavily guarded." Kallus commented looking at the two brothers.

"Master Kenobi would give up the search for Maul until we had found him." Ezra added

"Master Kenobi as in Jedi Master Obi-wan Kenobi? And Maul as in The Sith Lord Darth Maul?" Kallus looked surprised

"Yes, we are and I thank you for your help." Obi-wan spoke up and knelt down next to Maul. He placed his hand on the side of Maul's face that had the long scar on it. "I don't know what I would do if I had lost Maul."

"Who's the other Zabrak? I do not recognize him from other Rebel missions." Kallus asked looking at Kanan

"He is Maul's youngest brother. His only living family now... besides Master Kenobi." Kanan answered

"Besides Master Kenobi?" Kallus echoed slowly and confused and Obi-wan had quickly stood and faced Kallus.

"Yes, Maul is my mate and I regret not staying with him the day he was captured. If you have any problem with this, I am sure we can settle it one way or another." Obi-wan spoke with calmness in his voice, but Kallus could tell not to push the situation. Kallus back away a couple of steps with his hands up.

"I have no problem with it, but hearing that you, Maul and the Rebels are here, Thrawn has been ordered to take all Jedi  and Rebels to some impregnable prison." Kallus explained and watched as Obi-wan raise a hand and stroked his beard.

"A prison in the Lola Sayu system?" Obi-wan questioned

"Yes, I believe so." Kallus answered him

"The Citadel." Obi-wan stated

"Pardon me?" Kallus was purely confused

"Believe it or not but I was in the Citadel before." Obi-wan smirked at the memory

"Master Kenobi?" Ezra spoke up as confused as Kallus

"Well, I actually broke in. Well, with Anakin's help..." Obi-wan's voice faded but picked back up. "Breaking in isn't what we need though. With Maul and Feral both injured, we can't risk an escape just yet."

"Are you suggesting that we let ourselves be taken to the Citadel, Master Kenobi? If I remember correctly, that place is where they hold rogue Jedi." Kanan spoke up

"And in the Clone Wars, the Separatist had taken over it. Anakin and I had to rescue Master Piell from there." Obi-wan explains, "We had to split into two groups one distraction group and one escape group. We had R2 there to guide some reprogrammed battle droids to help us leave."

"You want to go into the Citadel until your mate and his brother heal then have me replace that R2 unit don't you, Master Kenobi?" Kallus sighed

"That is precisely what I'm planning." Obi-wan replied

"But did you manage to get out of the Citadel?" Ezra asked

"Well... not exactly. Anakin and I got out of the Citadel, yes, but our shuttle had ended up being destroyed by the droids. We had to get Master Plo to send in carrier ships to pick us up." Obi-wan explained.

"Well, that's comforting to know." Kallus spoke up.

"Are we in agreement on the plan?" Obi-wan asked turning to Kanan.

"Well, it's the only plan we have left now. Although, we still have Rex and Chopper in the Ghost waiting for us." Kanan added

"I'll send them a transmission and we will rendezvous somewhere before we come to rescue you." Kallus resolved

"Oh, and Kallus." Obi-wan spoke up again

"Yes?" Kallus turned to Obi-wan

"We have friends in the neighboring room to ours. It would be great if you made sure we go in at the same time. I know the Empire and how they will try to separate us." Obi-wan spoke and Kallus started walking to the door.

"Of course. No worries Master Kenobi." Kallus spoke at the door.

"Oh, and Kallus." Obi-wan spoke up again

"Yes?" Kallus turned to look at Obi-wan before the door opened

"We will need our lightsabers and weapons." Obi-wan commented

"Of course." Kallus rolled his eyes once he saw Obi-wan's smirk. "The droids will stay here and heal your mate and his brother as much as they can before the transfer." Kallus walked out of the room and hardly a moment after that Obi-wan turned to the two medic droids.

"How are they?" Obi-wan asked with a worried tone

"They are in stable condition at the moment. We have managed to stop their bleeding yet they both have lost a significant amount of blood. Blood transfers will be needed." A droid spoke.

"Blood transfers?" Obi-wan echoed surprised

"That is correct. It is vital for their survival." The droid spoke

"But they are the last of their kind and I doubt any place has Dathomirian Zabrak blood in stock!" Obi-wan stated

"I'm sure we can find some kind of Iridonian Zabrak blood. That should be a good enough substitute, shouldn't it?" Ezra spoke up.

"No. Maul and his brother are Dathomirian's, which mean that they're half Zabrak and half Human. Iridonian's are completely Zabrak, their blood would not be accepted by Maul's and Feral's body." Obi-wan explained

"Then can't we just mix some human blood with Iridonian blood and it would be good enough?" Ezra asked

"That still won't be enough. We'll get the same results as we would just giving them Iridonian blood. We must find another way to save them." Obi-wan turned away from them to think. He didn't know what to do he was a Jedi, not a doctor! Obi-wan stood there and taking many deep breaths. After a moment of still not knowing what to do, he remembered how Anakin had always come up with the backup plans, then after Anakin, it was Maul who had all the backup plans. Obi-wan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he pushed all of those thoughts away. He walked over the wall, where the hole was, and sat down. It was time to ask the girls what they thought on all of it. He knew he could trust them to come up with a good plan, but first, it was time to fill them in with the plan they had formed so far.


	7. Thrawn

Obi-wan took deep breaths as he meditated. He had to calm himself for what may be happening next. He knew anything could possibly happen at the Citadel so he needed to plan ahead for anything that may happen while they are in there. 

After a while, Ezra and Kanan thought that it was also best to meditate and prepare themselves. Zeb, on the other hand, had no clue what to do. He watched as the others meditated than occasionally looked and watched the droids work on Maul and Feral. 

Ahsoka, in the chamber next door was also meditating. She had remembered how dangerous it was there and the moments she spent with Master Piell and how he had entrusted her with the information that was only supposed to be known by the Jedi Council. She found herself nervous when Obi-wan had told her the plan they had come up with.

Before they knew it a male Chiss had an Imperial officer open up the chamber door. He walked in with a smirk as he saw Ezra and Obi-wan get between him and the unconscious brothers.

"Thrawn." Ezra hissed as Thrawn stopped in the middle of the room

"I can see that medical droids were sent in for your Rebel friends. Good. I want them alive so I can personally interrogate them." Thrawn kept his smirk on his face.

"They know nothing." Obi-wan calmly retorted and Ezra knew that all was a lie. Maul knew where Chopper base was among many other things.

"Oh, I'm sure if they know nothing I will at least get something out of the younger one there. The other one has already been tortured beyond repair, but I am sure the Emperor would not want him to be on such a vacation for too long." Thrawn mused and Ezra could feel Obi-wan's calmness hold strong.

"You will find that we are not easily broken." Obi-wan stared Thrawn right into his eyes. Blue to red.

"I am hoping just for that Master Kenobi. Thanks to your friend here, in the murder of Lord Vader, I have been given much more information from the Emperor himself. Even though he has failed to give us any kind of information, what I saw on those recordings of his torture sessions, the recording of Lord Vader's death and recordings of the nights he spent here were very, enlightening." Thrawn hummed and a smile grew on his face as Obi-wan's eyes never left his. He had lied as he didn't know what happened overnight, but he could just tell that Obi-wan was keeping a much closer watch on him now. Which also told him what he saw in the recording was not just babble to stop the torturing for a moment. "Your other friends have already been boarded onto the transport ship."

Thrawn waves his hand in the air and the droids, in the middle of their work, leave the room. 

"Gather your friends and come with me." Thrawn commanded and Ezra turned to look at Obi-wan then at Kanan and Zeb. Zeb walked over to the brothers and knelt down to pick up Maul until Obi-wan's voice stopped him.

"I'll take Maul." Obi-wan's voice was as calm as ever as he still didn't break eye contact with the Chiss until he felt Zeb pick up Feral through the Force. Then he turned and picked up Maul with little to no difficulty. Turning back to Thrawn, they all walked to the transport ship in silence. Thrawn, for now, could only muse in his mind what different kinds of torture could possible the Rebels and especially Jedi Master Obi-wan Kenobi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter, but I felt that it was necessary to build up to the next chapter


	8. Race

Everything was silent on the ship, the amount of Mandalorians that were currently on the ship compared to before where now 1 to 5. Half of the remaining Mandalorians now wanted nothing more to do with Maul and his brother. Their families and friends had been murdered in what some called unnecessary battles. Kast and the other Mandalorians still loyal to Maul, Feral, and Satine's rules were becoming quickly annoyed with the rising near civil war that was going to break loose at any time.

Kast sat on the bridge of the ship when the transmission alert sounded off. She sat there and let the alarm go off until it stopped.

"Why didn't you answer it?" Another Mandalorian asked walking up to her. "It could have been Lord Maul, the Duchess, or Lord Feral."

"It could have well of been the Empire too. They have been drifting closer towards us with each passing day." Kast replied until the alarm went off again. "Track and see where that transmission is coming from. Use as little of energy as possible. I do not want those Imperials to find us."

"It's impossible." The Mandalorian spoke as they looked at a screen.

"Where is it coming from?" Kast stood up walking over to the screen and pushed her fellow Mandalorian out of the way. As she read the screen she saw that the coordinates of the transmission came from the surface of Dathomir.

Without a second thought, she answered the transmission. An elder, what appeared to be human, female in tribal clothes appeared along with a young healthy woman. The older lady addressed herself as Rell, the eldest member of the Singing Mountains Clan, and the younger lady as Vurlene the clan's healer. They had asked for medicine as they were running low.

Kast tried to respond to them, but the transmission was only one way.

"So what should we do? Respond to them? We are running low on supplies ourselves. If we send out a ship, the Empire will know we're here." The Mandalorian asked

"We shall try to contact the Duchess, Lord Maul, or Lord Feral before we attempt to do anything." Kast orders as she moves to a control panel and attempts to contact her leaders.

 

\-----------

Thrawn walked through the large prison that only held the newly captured Rebels. He had a towel draped over his shoulders as he left the fitness room. He didn't mind working in a small area that is suppose to be used for the prisoners. Thrawn knew he wouldn't let any of them in there since he wanted to break them quickly. Or did he? Should he give them a false hope?

Thrawn shrugged mentally to himself. He doubted the Rebels would use the room anyways, but what about that young Dathomirian? Thrawn mused that the younger Dathomirian would use it. Well only if Maul and the other got proper blood into their bodies. The droids had been barely able to keep the two of them alive with Iridonian blood.

Thrawn stopped at the medical bay and looked into a window that showed the two Zabraks.

"How curious," Thrawn mused as he saw the Jedi Master Obi-wan Kenobi at Maul's bedside. Thrawn hadn't seen the recording of the day when the battle that the two Zabraks got into. "Maybe letting the two of them live shall shine a new light on things." Thrawn was excited to learn about the relationships between all of his new prisoners. To dissect and tear down each of them.

A beeping from Thrawn's comm link pulled him from his theories.

"Grand Admiral, sir, we have just received a widespread transmission." An officer spoke from the other side of the device.

"From who? Rebels?" Thrawn questioned

"We do not think so sir, but it does seem to be coming from a planet that is last known to of been completely wiped of intelligent life." The officer responds

"And what planet is that?" Thrawn asked tired already of asking the officer questions he should have immediately told him the answers to.

"It's Dathomir sir."


	9. The forethoughts

Kast cursed at herself as she stood up and grabbed her helmet. She tried talking to Maul, Feral, and Satine without success. Her patience was wearing thin and her mind was spinning. There were survivors on Dathomir after all their scanners told them that life was completely wiped from the planet. She stared at her fellow Mandalorian that she spoke to before the transmission started.

"Cor, gather 3 more men. We're going down to Dathomir to investigate who really sent that transmission. If it wasn't who we really saw then at least we will be able to kick some ass." Kast spoke walking to the elevator.

"Are you sure about this, Kast?" Another Mandalorian spoke up, "The Empire is close by."

"They are still many systems away?" Kast inquired

"Still at the edge of our radars." The other Mandalorian replied

"Then it'll take them time to get here. Once you think they've gone into hyperspace, I want you to tell me then we will leave Dathomir as quickly as we can." Kast declared

"What if the Duchess, Lord Maul, and Lord Feral return after we've retreated then?" He kept on asking

"Then we will pay the price." Kast announced "There are only half of us left on this ship that are still loyal to Lord Maul, Lord Feral, and Duchess Satine. That is only about 30 of us. If there are still Dathomirians down on that planet, how do you think that will make not only Lord Feral feel, but Lord Maul as well? We all heard about what happened to Lord Maul when he thought that it was his fault that everyone on his home planet was dead. Imagine how he would feel when he hears that he and his brother are not alone."

A silence fell over the group of ten Mandalorians that stood on the bridge. They remembered the day when Maul was laughing over the comms telling Feral he had joyous news, then the moment they were told that Obi-wan was alive. He was uplifted from all of the dark things that had surrounded and threated them. They all looked around at each other then nodded.

"It seems like we all are in an agreement then. We 5 of us including myself, Cor, and 3 others will go down to the planet's surface to investigate. We will take as many medical supplies as we can spare down with us." Kast announced, "Alright then, Cor, Pax, Hutor, and Gram, you four will be accompanying me down to the planet and to this Singing Mountian Clan."

The five of them all started to walk to the elevator and to the hangar to the smaller ship that they will take down to the surface of Dathomir.

\-------------------

Thrawn hummed in amusement as the transmission finished. The lights in the room brightened as he turned around to look at Kallus. "Interesting was it not, Agent Kallus? Life still on Dathomir."

"Yes, it is surprising," Kallus replied

"Prepare a ship, Agent Kallus." Thrawn cut him off as he walked to the door.

"A ship, sir?" Kallus kept his calm appearance, but he was completely confused on the inside.

"Yes. Two of our prisoners are in need of Dathomirian blood." Thrawn stated

"But the two we saw were Humans, the two need Zabrak blood." Kallus stated

"Actually Agent Kallus, our two prisoners are hybrids. They are both Zabrak and Human. That is what makes Dathomirians special. If we can not get Dathomirian blood soon, the Emporer will have both of our heads." Thrawn spoke looking back at Kallus.

"The Emperor?!" Kallus could no longer contain his emotions and his surprise showed clearly on his face.

"Yes, and he has made it very clear to keep the prisoner Maul alive until all of the information can be extracted from the others and they are killed. Then we have permission to kill him, but for now, he must stay alive no matter what." Thrawn explained, "Now gather men and tell them to get to the carrier ship. We are going to Dathomir and Kallus,"

"Yes, Grand Admiral?"

"I am leaving you in charge. I hope you will be able to look over the prisoners until my return."

Kallus stood there surprised at Thrawn's words. "Yessir."

\-----------------

Kallus quickly rounded the corner, Thrawn's word still fresh in his mind, he walked into the cell where Thrawn had placed all of the prisoners. When he opens the door, he saw that Maul and Feral had been placed in the room as well.

"Kallus, what's wrong?" Kanan spoke up as he sensed Kallus' distress

"We had received a transmission that had came from Dathomir." Kallus started until Satine quickly stood up

"A transmission? No that's impossible there should be no one on the surface of Dathomir." Satine stated walking over to the two barely awake brothers.

"They called themselves the Sisters of the Singing Mountain Clans and they are requesting that medicine be delivered to them." Kallus explains

"The Singing Mountain Clan?" A rough voice broke into the conversation. Everyone turned to see Feral trying to sit up.

"Yes, do you know these women?" Kallus asked

"They, won't help us." Feral glared at Kallus not use to his new ally

"Thrawn is not expecting that they will help us. He wants a compromise we give them medicine and they give us some blood to heal you and your brother." Kallus stated to Feral, who laid back down.

"If they find out Maul and I come from the Night Clan, they will not give their blood willingly." Feral looked over at Maul, who had fallen asleep once again.

"Why not?" Ashoka couldn't help her curiosity over the situation.

"Either way Thrawn will get the blood." Kallus stated

"The Singing Mountain Clan and Night Clan are rival clans. Mother Talzin and the mother of their Clan had a rivalry in their younger years and never once have we helped the other clan." Feral spoke softly not trying to strain his voice, but the mechanical assistance forced his voice to be lowered to a certain extent.

"Why is Thrawn wanting to help Maul and Feral anyways?" Ezra asked from across the room, "We all are his enemies. Wouldn't he rather see us dead?"

"Yes he would, and I raised the same question. He told me he had received a specific order from the Emperor to keep Maul alive. That he had to be the last one dead." Kallus paused for a moment, "From what I could figure the Emperor probably told Thrawn to kill Maul last or he would kill Thrawn."

"Of course the Emperor would say that. All he wants is to watch Maul lose everything again. Maul was his first apprentice and I'm sure he wants him to be his last." Obi-wan spoke up, "Sidious has tried many times to get Maul to go back to the dark side, but no matter what, he failed."

"We should just escape now then! While Thrawn is gone and this Sidious isn't expecting it." Zeb spoke up walking over to them.

"We can't do that now. We must wait." Obi-wan denied his plan

"But why not?" Zeb questioned, "It's the perfect time!"

"Yes, I will agree that this time now is quite ideal, except either way we need the blood from the Singing Mountain Sisters. If we leave now, Thrawn will have an advantage over us. He may just take all of the sisters with the blood that Maul and Feral need, leaving us with no choice but to hand ourselves back to him." Obi-wan explained to Zeb, who scratched the back of his head.

"Well now that you put it that way," Zeb spoke quieter

"I agree will Master Kenobi, we should stay here until Maul and Feral are completely healed. Then once they are, we're taking the next opportunity we have to get out of here." Hera decided over the plan.

"In staying here, you all risk of being tortured by Thrawn when he returns." Kallus added into the conversation.

"I'm not leaving Maul and Feral here alone." Obi-wan concluded

"And neither am I." Satine stood up next to Obi-wan. "We have a ship of our army above Dathomir, I am positive that they have received that transmission as well. Once they see the Empire there and find out what they are doing on Dathomir, they will stop them."

"We could get them to protect the sisters and we could make an escape once we know that they're safe from Thrawn." Sabine suggested 

"Sounds like a good plan," Hera stated, "Master Kenobi, Duchess, what do you think?"

"It's a risky plan, but it may just work out." Obi-wan stated stroking his beard thinking as he spoke.

"I best send them a transmission then." Kallus stated and Satine gave him the coordinates to her ship so he could send them a private transmission.

With their plan figured out and everyone staying in the prison, they knew their only hope was in Maul's and Satine's army. Obi-wan and Satine sat down between the two brothers that relied on the blood of sisters.


	10. Sister Clan

Kast was the first one off of the small ship they took down to the surface. They did their best to land near where the transmission was sent, but as they looked from the ship no village could be seen.

"Alright men, keep your weapons loaded. We don't know what we're going to run into out here." Kast announced as she looked around she spotted women. "Alright men follow me and stay close."

Kast followed the women who looked similar to the ones in the transmission. The men were on edge after the two women they were following just vanished.

"Pax, what does your scanners say?" Last asked as she watched the spot where the women were.

"The two women were registered on the scanners, but now they just disappeared!" Pax reported as he put the scanner away. "Lord Feral said that his clan used Magik, maybe this one does too and this is some kind of force field."

"Alright men, keep your weapons near you. We're going to figure this out." Kast announced as she walked to where the women were with her pistol in hand. The men were slightly surprised as they watched Kast disappear. Then quickly after they followed her.

Kast looked back as her men appeared on the other side before they all walked closer to the village the had appeared after they walked through the invisible barrier. The old female from the transmission approached them as soon as they entered the large village.

"You must be Rell." Kast announced and the old women nodded. "I am Kast and these are my men. We brought as much medicine as we could spare."

Cor walked up next to Kast and held the bag of medicine out to the Singing Mountian sister. "We would have brought more, but we are also running low on supplies."

"My entire Clan thanks you all for this sacrifice." Rell replied with a smile as she took the bag from Cor. "Come, are you all hungry? We have some food to spare."

"No, we are fine." Kast started before one of the men interrupted her.

"Yeah! I would love some food!"  
Kast glared and looked behind her to see that it was the youngest member of their group, Hutor.

"I guess we can stay for a bit. I just need to contact our ship." Kast tried to contact the ship, but no one was answering.

"You won't be able to contact anyone outside of the barrier, you will have to step out to contact them." Rell commented with an eerie calmness to her voice.

"Alright men, we'll stay here for a bit and eat then we are heading back. I'll join you all after I report this to the ship." Kast announced to her men before they all spilt up. Kast ventured back the way she came from and after a while she left the barrier.

"Hiots. Come in Hiots." Kast spoke into her comm link and all she received back was static before a voice came in.

"Kast! You're back! We have a problem!" The other Mandalorian reported back. "We've received a transmission from someone calling himself Fulcrum. He reported that the Empire has captured Lord Maul, Feral and the Duchess."

"What?!" Kast was shocked by the announcement.

"Lord Maul and Feral have been severely injured and are in desperate need for Dathomirian blood. Fulcrum also reported that the Empire have sent a ship to find someone with the correct blood as them." The other Mandalorian continued

"Are you sure this isn't a ruse of some kind?" Kast asked even though she doubted anyone would come up with a plan like this she had to ask.

"We doubt it was a ruse, ma'am. Although we were unable to respond to this Fulcrum before our transmission was cut off." The other Mandalorian reported his voice sounded slightly shaken.

"Alright then Hiots. If you see this incoming ship on our radar before we return, I want you to stay on the other side of the planet from the until I give you the next set of orders." Kast ordered before quickly ending her conversation and walking quickly back to the village to warn her team.

\--------  
Hiots and the others on the ship waited a long time for the Imperial ship to appear. They tried to quickly maneuver away from the Imperial ship until it started firing at them.

"Kast!" Hiots shouted into the ship's comm. "Kast! Damn it, come in Kast!"

"Sir! The ship can't take much more damage!" Another Mandalorian shouted at Hiots before the firing went quiet.

"Zoerk, what's happening out their?" Hiots asked him quietly.

"They've stopped firing sir... they're coming closer! I think they're trying to board our ship!" Zoerk replied with panic in his voice.

"Someone put us into hyperdrive and do it fast!" Hiots shouted until the ship shook as the larger ship connected with theirs.

"Kast! Are you there Kast?!" Hiots shouted uselessly into the ship's comm.

\-------  
Thrawn walked up onto the bridge of the ship that he fired upon moments ago. He had left the ship crippled, unable to make the jump into hyperspace and unable to go high speeds through space. He couldn't help but wonder why a Mandalorian ship would be over Dathomir. Then again he had also wondered why the Duchess Satine was with the Rebels he had been hunting.

He watched as his Death Troopers pointed their guns at the Mandalorians commanding the ship and as they stepped away from their controls.

"Anyone mind telling me why there is a Mandalorian ship over a planet that has no life on it?" Thrawn asked playing dumb with the Mandalorians.

"Staying away from the likes of you!" One of the Mandalorians hissed at Thrawn.

"Oh? Then why not just land on the planet and hide there? Why stay up in space like this? Your people are supposed to warriors and survivors. Living like this, is pathetic." Thrawn commented as he continued, "So tell me are you all still loyal to your old duchess or are you all rogues now,"

"What are you talking about? The Duchess has been dead. Don't you remember, Maul killed her." Hiots began talking

"Oh? So you all are rogues. Well then, I'll give you all an opportunity." Thrawn started as the other Mandalorians looked at each other. A couple had looked at Hiots when he mentioned that Maul had killed their duchess, which indicated that they knew that Hiots was lying. "Tell me the truth now about your Duchess and Maul and their status as allies now and I won't kill everyone on this ship."

"He is telling the truth!" Zoerk spoke up out of panic and Thrawn looked at one of his death troopers and the trooper nodded and shot Zoerk in the head.

"As much as I would love to just stay here and chat, I must be on my way down to the planet." Thrawn started on his way to the door then looked at the death trooper he previously looked at. "Pull as much information as you can from everyone before I return." Then he turned back and started to head to the smaller Mandalorian ships and he had spotted that one was missing. It was just as he thought. They had received the same transmission as well.


	11. Magash

Rell sat down with Kast and her group and Kast couldn't help but feel something wrong as she sat there watching her fellow Mandalorians eat.

"So tell me, Kast, you were here quite fast. Just how close were you and your men to Dathomir?" Rell inquired

"We actually have been orbiting Dathomir for quite some time now. We were not planning on exposing ourselves with the risk of the Empire seeing us, but knowing what had happened to the people of Dathomir and knowing that two of our leaders are from Dathomir, we had to help." Kast answered the elder

"Oh? And who are your leaders?" Rell's curiosity filled her as she talked with the strangers that had helped her clan.

"Their names are Maul and Feral. They became our leaders along with our present duchess, Duchess Satine." Kast replied to Rell's question without hesitation, she needs to befriend these people for the sake for Maul and Feral.

"We recently found out that all of our leaders were captured by the Empire and both Maul and Feral and been severely injured. They are in need of blood." Kast laid the problem straight out to the elder of the clan.

"Which Clan do these men belong to?" Rell kept questioning

"I believe they are from the Nightsister Clan. They always talked about the Night brothers and sisters." Kast replied

"Ah. The Night Clan." Rell spoke in slight disgust.

"Yes, is there something wrong?" Hutor asked after he finished his food.

"The Night Clan was a rival clan of ours. They turned our Magiks into something dark and sinister." Rell explained

"So can you help us or not? Kast's voice turned stern.

"If it wasn't for a Nightsister warning us about the attack, the Singing Mountain Clan would also be no more," Rell spoke as she remembered what had happened that day. "I can not ensure you that you will get the blood you need, but I shall tell my Clan mother to let you speak to Magash."

"Magash? Who is this Magash?" Kast demanded to know.

"She is the only one in the entire Singing Mountain Clan that has the blood you need running through her veins. The rest of us are too human to be of any help to you." Rell explained to the Mandalorians as they all finished their food.

"Are you saying that we need to convince Magash to save our leaders lives?!" Kast scoffed

"I advise you talk to her in a civilized manner. Magash is not against lending her blood to men, but she can be quite ill-tempered when dealing with the Night Clan." Rell finished

"Alright then. Thank you for letting us know this." Kast stood up from the table and her men followed suit.

As they walked away from Rell, Kast looked at her men.

"Alright men, we need to get Magash and get her to safety." Kast ordered

"Safety? What do you mean?" Hutor questioned

"When I contacted the others, Hiots reported that an Imperial ship was on its way to also get Magash. We must be quick in convincing her and quickly get her to a place that's safe and away from the rest of the clan." Kast explained and they went off to find Magash.

\-------

Everything was going perfectly. Kast and her men had found Magash and she seemed convinced. Although Magash was still on edge about Maul and Feral being part of the Night Clan, Kast was relieved that she was willing to help.

"Magash! You must hide! The Empire has found us!" A Singing Mountain sister shouted running into Magash's home. Magash went to follow her Clan sister, but Kast held her back.

"Magash, I understand you wanting to protect your clan, but let my men go in your place. I can not afford to lose you to the Empire and let my leaders die." Kast held Magash's arm tightly as the Dathomirian woman still seemed to intend to fight back the intruders.

"You seem to have much loyalty to your leaders," Magash commented looking deep into Kast's eyes. "Alright I will come with you, but your men are not to leave until my Clan is rid of this Empire."

"Alright, men! You heard her! Help clear this Clan of the Empire! Once we all are done we will meet in the mess hall!" Kast ordered her men and they all went their separate ways with Magash leading Kast out of the back of her home.


	12. New Plans

Thrawn marched unhappily through the prison as he was returning to his room. He had failed in retrieving the Dathomirian that had the correct blood for Maul and his brother. Had wasn't able to capture 10 of the Dathomirian females and he had taken notice that there were Mandalorians fighting along the Dathomirians. The ones on the ship didn't even know much.

Thrawn was taken by surprise when he opened the door to his room and saw Emperor Palpatine standing in his room looking at the artwork hanging on the walls.

"Emperor Palpatine," Thrawn started as he shut his door.

"Lord Thrawn, I have heard about your failure to get blood for your prisoners," Palpatine spoke facing away from Thrawn.

"It is only temporary, some Mandalorians who still support Maul were protecting the ones who had the correct blood," Thrawn explained keeping his distance from Palpatine yet taking some steps forward.

"Your failure humiliates the Empire, Lord Thrawn." Palpatine looks at Thrawn over his shoulder as he wears his black cloak.

"I apologize, Emperor Palpatine. I can promise you it will not happen again." Thrawn spoke keeping his eyes forward.

"I know it will not happen again. I had foreseen this mistake and have been planning a backup plan. I have created a clone that will provide you with the correct blood that you will need to keep your prisoners alive." Palpatine spoke fully facing Thrawn.

"A clone?" Thrawn echoed looking curiously at the Emperor.

"Yes. Lord Vader had started making them in order to overthrow me from my Throne. However, they have all failed him. The one I have created shall serve use to both of us." Palpatine started and Thrawn stayed quiet. Thrawn was taken by surprise that Vader ever plotted to overthrow Emperor Palpatine. "My clone's blood has already been sent to the infirmary. You advanced through the ranks quite quickly and I hope you serve me better than Lord Vader did, Lord Thrawn. It would be a great disappointment to lose another great solider. I am giving you another chance to prove yourself worthy of this new position I am giving you."

"I will be than Lord Vader, my Emperor, I thank you for this second chance, my Emperor." Thrawn kneeled down to Palpatine as Palpatine walked out of the room.

————

Kallus quietly walked through the halls of the prison. It was strange to him, there were barely any guards in the hallways. He slowly peeked around the corner and was surprised when he looked at the infirmary. He saw Thrawn standing inside of the infirmary watching the medical droids observe Maul and Feral as they were given the clone's blood. He saw as Feral attempted to attack Thrawn until a Death Trooper pointed their blaster at Maul, who was sitting up and looking at the ground.

Kallus quickly hid behind the corner when Thrawn turned to look outside of the infirmary. Thrawn, amused, smirked as he looked behind himself. He didn't know exactly who it was but his sensitive hearing told him that there was someone watching him.

After a moment, Kallus quickly made his way to the cell that held Obi-wan and his friends. After opening the door, everyone looked like they were ready to leave.

"Where's Maul and Feral?" Ezra asked first.

"We can't leave yet." Kallus answers after a moment.

"What do you mean?" Obi-wan questioned, "You said that the Mandalorians had the one that we needed to help heal Maul and Feral."

"We do, but Thrawn has somehow also got blood. Both Maul and Feral are up and moving already." Kallus reported to them and Obi-wan began thinking.

"We will have to escape ourselves soon. Once Maul and Feral are brought back here, we will have to leave as quick as we can. Kallus, we will need you to contact Rex and Chopper and tell them to be ready to pick us up and leave right after." Obi-wan began, "We can't chance at leaving anyone behind this time and that means Galen too."

"Galen?" Kallus echoes

"He was separated from us when we were captured." Kanan replied

"We can't leave him wherever he is. He's like you, he used to work with the Empire, but he was betrayed and he wants to help us and the Rebellion." Ezra explained

"Alright, I'll see what I can do to help him. For now, just try to stay put. I'll be back to once I know that your friends are back and we will leave that moment. I'll give you a map of the Citadel and the escape route you'll be taking. While I'm gone, I'm going to disable all the doors and the alarms so Thrawn and the others won't know which way you went." Kallus explained

"What will you be doing during all of this?" Ezra asked

"I'll be your distraction. Don't worry, I'll be on a ship right after all of you. No one gets left behind this time." Kallus says

"You're coming with us?!" Ezra says surprised

"Thrawn's been onto me for days now, if I stay any longer, who knows what he or the Empire will do to me if I'm caught," Kallus answered him with a steady voice.

"Alright then. It's all planned out, it's everyone or no one." Kanan ended their conversation and Kallus quickly and quietly left the cell to contact the others.


	13. Gathering

Obi-wan watched the door carefully. He could sense Maul and Feral being led back to the cell. He felt scared of what may happen once they all are put into the same cell again.

"So what are we going to do?" Ezra asked, "Do we have to like reteach Maul?"

"Well, yes and no. While Maul has been unconscious, I've been meditating and entering Maul's mind. I have been showing him pieces of our memories to counterattack some of the things Sidious has said to him." Obi-wan answered him, "We must be careful with the way we remind him of his past,"

"Obi, that means Feral and I must remind him of... what happened after," Satine's voice was cut off by the cell door opening.

Ezra and Zeb watched as Maul and Feral were shoved into the room. They watched as Obi-wan slowly approached Maul after the guards slammed the door. Both Maul and Obi-wan's faces were stoic and neither of them said anything. They just stood and stared at each other. Once Feral walked away from them towards Kanan, Zeb, and Ezra, Maul's eyes hit the floor and his face became saddened. Obi-wan placed a hand on Maul's cheek causing Maul to look up.

Maul looked directly into Obi-wan's eyes and tried to speak, but only a terribly harsh whisper that was broken up into stretched out syllables. Obi-wan gave him a soft smile and shook his head. Maul felt Obi-wan's fingers trace along the long scar down the side of Maul's face and Maul's eyes looked away from Obi-wan. Maul took a step back and closed his eyes until Obi-wan grabbed Maul's hand and took the step closer to Maul. Maul looked back up at Obi-wan his eyes dull yet watering with emotions looking at strong blue eyes, that he once saw as an endless ocean that devoured him in his dreams, but now he saw them as the clear blue waters that helped give life to all creatures in the galaxy. Maul then pulled Obi-wan to him and hugged him tightly. Obi-wan smiled even more and returned Maul's hug without hesitation. After a long moment, Obi-wan turned his head and kissed the scar on Maul's face. Maul pulled from the hug to looked surprised at Obi-wan for a moment before hugging him once again with a renewed tightness.

Ezra looked at his friends as they realized that this Maul was nothing compared to the Maul that they once knew.  Ezra looked back over at Maul and Obi-wan before he felt a hand on his shoulder. He jumped and the hand laid on his should the same way Maul did any of them knew that Obi-wan was still alive. Ezra quickly looked up to see Feral standing next to him and he swore that Feral looked exactly like just younger and with yellow skin and golden eyes.

"Feral, is there, something that you need?" Ezra asked nervously as he turned to look at the yellow Zabrak.

"Ezra, I will tell you this now, if I find out that you are trying to change my brother in any sort of way. Try to make him more 'good' in your own way or in your friend's way and I will personally hunt you and your friends down and dismantle your part of this rebellion against the Empire. we are going to repair my brother until he is the way he was before. If you try to trick him or make him forget anything, I will tell Obi-wan and you will not just have me hunting after you, but you will also have Obi-wan hunting after you and your friends. Obi-wan may be a Jedi, but he will protect Maul with his life and everything Maul has gone through is what makes him, him. If you try anything I promise you it will be the end of you." Feral glared right into Ezra's eyes as he spoke. Ezra looked around seeing that no one was paying attention to what Feral was saying to him. "Do you understand?"

"Yeah. I understand." Ezra said as calmly as possible. "No worries Feral, we all want Maul to return to the way he was."

Ezra said hoping Feral would believe him, but he couldn't help but remember the different ways he could change to get Maul to be on the better side of the light side instead of this balancing act of staying between the light and dark side that swayed constantly.

Kallus quickly entered the cell holding a bag and checked the hallway before closing the door behind them.

"Are we ready to go Kallus?" Kanan asked taking a step toward their ally.

"Things are going to be a bit tricky, I didn't expect all the hallways to be magnetic and electrified. There's literally surveillance camera's at every corner." Kallus reported handing the bag to Obi-wan. "All of your weapons are in there and the ladies have theirs as well."

"Tell me, Kallus has the Empire rebuilt this place since my last escape?" Obi-wan spoke up thinking out loud and Kallus pulled out a holomap of the Citadel.

"Repaired and upgraded. I have reviewed the tapes of when you had done that rescue, Master Kenobi. What you did was very impressive, however, Thrawn himself had overviewed all of the repairs." Kallus explained as Obi-wan examines the map. Maul and Feral both look at each other as the old Jedi examines the map. Ezra and Zeb became very uncomfortable with the way Maul and Feral were looking at each other.

"Everything seems to be 10 times worse then it was before. Maul will never be able to make it out of here with all of the magnetic hallways. If we are spotted and they activate to magnets, Maul will be trapped.

"Uh, Master Kenobi?" Ezra spoke up, as the two Zabraks glared at each other.

"What is it, Ezra?" Obi-wan turned around to see Maul and Feral mentally challenging each other. "Maul! If you will pay attention, we are trying to escape." With a huff, Maul marches up to the map and examines it himself.

"There's no use escaping through the hallways, Maul, you'll never make it," Obi-wan comments joining Maul in looking at it. Maul then points out where they are on the map then points down to the landing pad.

"Maul, the only way we will be able to get there is through the hallways. They've made the ventilation ducts much smaller than they were, most of us won't be able to fit." Obi-wan points out then Maul looks back at Feral, as his younger brother steps up to them.

"That's because you're thinking like a Jedi." Feral comments, "You Jedi look for the most unseen path to do things."

"Then how do you expect us to escape without getting caught?" Kanan asked

"We'll be helpless and out in the open if we just walk down the hallways," Zeb speaks up

"We escape the Sith way." Feral answers them.

"And exactly how will we do it the 'Sith way' Feral?" Obi-wan asked crossing his arms. "If I remember correctly, Maul is the only one here who once was affiliated with the Sith and he can't exactly tell us how to escape without his voice."

"Yes, but my brother did train me. I know how he thinks and what Sidious trained him to do. I don't really like saying this in front of you Obi-wan, but I think I know my brother's mind better than you do. Now here's the plan," Feral started and he got a surprised scoff from Obi-wan at his statement.

\--------------

While Feral was discussing the plan, he and Maul looked back over at each other. Maul's eyes were full of worry and fear, but his face looked prepared and ready. Feral gave him a knowing smirk as they both nodded then looked at the door right before it opened to show Thrawn.


	14. The Sith Way

"Well, who would have known," Thrawn spoke up stepping inside of the cell. "Kallus. I had a suspicion that you agreed with the Rebels to some extent and that there was a spy leaking information straight to the Rebels, however, I can say that I am nearly surprised to know that you are who these Rebels call Fulcrum."

\---------

Chopper quietly and quickly made his way through the prison. He stopped once he entered the Security Room of the prison.

"Stop right there droid!" A Stormtrooper called to Chopper. "What is your business in the Security Room?"

Chopper made a couple noises.

"Maintenance check? There was nothing to tell us of a maintenance check!" The Stormtrooper replied and Chopper made more noises.

"You were personally sent by Grand Admiral Thrawn?!" The stormtrooper paused to think for a moment. "Alright then droid go ahead and do your check." Chopper makes a few more additional beep before connecting up with the maintenance panel.

\-----------

Thrawn and an Officer had begun putting cuffs on all the Rebels in the cell until there were noises coming in from outside of the cell.

"Officers, what is going on out there?" Thrawn called out to the two officers standing outside. "Officers!" Thrawn shouts and turns starting to march towards the cell door until it opens to show the droids he uses to train with. 

Thrawn takes a step back surprised and shouts. "Override code, Rukh!" Once Thrawn sees his droids moving in to attack, Obi-wan uses the attack to break his cuffs. Thinking quickly, Obi-wan summons his lightsaber, causing the bag to quickly turn knock one of the lightsabers out of the bag, and he uses his own to break everyone out of their cuffs. Thrawn takes quick notice of their attempt to escape and kicks one of his droids over to them to have the Rebel face against one of the now assassin droids, Obi-wan slices off one of the droid's arms. As Obi-wan pushes the droid back at Thrawn while his allies quickly gathered their weapons and escaped from the room. Obi-wan kept the droids' attention on Thrawn until he knew he could safely escape from the room and close the door the door behind himself, locking Thrawn in the room with the assassin droids. Kallus quickly punched in the code for the cell that held their friends. Once everyone was freed and had their weapon, they all began to run down the hallway. 

"Now your droid should have deactivated the magnets and the electrical currents in the hallways," Kallus reported to his friends then pulled out his commlink "Now, droid go to the landing pad behind the tower! That is where we all will be picked up!"

\-------------------

Thrawn, beaten and bloody, gets thrown across the room to the wall that there was a bed against, that was currently out of place due to the droids. Thrawn looks up at the droid trying to decide what to do next when he sees a lightsaber on the ground and picks it up. Thinking quickly he ignites the lightsaber to see its black blade. With extremely little time to admire the darksaber, Thrawn quickly uses it to slice up the attacking droids. He took a moment to catch his breath, deactivating the darksaber before pulling out his commlink.

"Lieutenant, the Rebels are attempting to escape, do not let them succeed!" Thrawn shouted into his commlink, then pocketing it. He stumbled to the cell door trying to open it without success. He grunts and punches the keypad, then he reactivated the darksaber and stabbed it through the door. He guessed he would have to cut his way out of the cell.

\------------------

Maul was tripping and stumbling as they all ran through the hallways. Obi-wan went back and grabbed Maul helping him escape from the deadly prison. They were almost at the exit when the alarms in the prison went off.

"Looks like they must have overridden the codes!" Kallus announced, "We must hurry they'll activate the magnets at any moment now!" As they all ran, they heard a loud hum through the hallway and Kanan's mask was ripped off of his face.

"Ahsoka!" Obi-wan shouted as he shoved Maul forward and Ahsoka used the Force to throw her friend out the last door that led outside before he was caught by the magnets. After being thrown outside, Maul tried standing up but found himself just too weak from hunger to stand himself up. Obi-wan had watched as Maul's lightsaber, however, was also captured by the magnets. In a last minute decision, Obi-wan used the force to crush the circuit inside of the dual-bladed lightsaber rendering it useless to Thrawn and his men, yet salvageable to Maul if he ever got it back.

Rex was having problems landing the ship due to the onslaught of lasers being fired at them. Chopper met them outside holding a commlink. Once Obi-wan was out he quickly helped Maul stand back up.

"I can't possibly land with them firing at me like this!" Rex's voice came through the commlink.

"You don't have to, just keep the ship as steady as possible!" Kanan said quickly into comm. "Master Kenobi! Ahsoka! Ezra! Rex can't land so well have to jump everyone on board!" As soon as Rex got the ship steady Obi-wan and Maul were the first ones to board the ship with Feral quickly following them then Kanan and Zeb, then Ahsoka with Satine and Hera, then Ezra with Sabine. Once everyone was on board, Rex quickly flew away from the prison with everyone hoping that they would never ever have to see that prison ever again.


	15. As the saying goes

Everyone was exhausted. Some of them both emotionally and physically exhausted.

Ezra looked out at his group of odd-ended, rag tagged Rebel friends, both survivors of an old war and those who were born in the war currently raging. A war that has turned enemies into friends and that has caused greater enemies to arise. A war that has caused two lovers to fall and rebuild themselves more than they would ever like to remember. A war that has left many people scarred. A war that has veterans running for the deepest, most unknown planets in the galaxy. A war that brought many people together. A war that many people are scared to fight, has brought their little group together. A war that currently has them fleeing for cover to lick their wounds and get back to their feet. A war that left many to wonder, when will it end? A war that many people that don't want to fight anymore. People who are just tired of fighting. People who just want to rest and relax in peace. 

But those people understand that they cant stop fighting, because if they do, who will be there for the people that need to be saved from this war?

But who will ever be there to tell those people what they did was enough? 

Who will be there to tell the enemy turned friend, that he has redeemed himself more than once and it was he and the others who were in the wrong to tell the old enemy that it wasn't enough? That it was never enough.

Ezra looked at his group of friends, the ones he started this war with. Still intact. They had fallen apart to come back together. They were the lucky ones. The ones who came out nearly unscathed compared to the ones they had picked up along the way. Limbs and lives lost. The luckiest ones from the old war. The ones who needed this war to end. The ones who felt like enough was never enough. The ones who weren't afraid of death, but were only afraid of leaving each other one by one. Afraid that this war will take them away slowly and not all at once. Where if one went, the rest had to go because there would be no other way.

He understood now. What it was like to be a Jedi. What it was like to forgive an enemy. To set aside what happened in the past. Even if those past things still whisper doubt in his ear. He has seen enough to know that this enemy was only acting upon the instinct that was set into him by the true evil that they were fighting. No matter how much Ezra was tempted to change this old enemy, he knew he would have to help set him back on the course he was running that the Force has chosen for him.

They were not complete, however, they were still missing one in their group, who needed to be saved. However, it couldn't wait. A friend was in need of healing and another was in need of saving. As much as Ezra hated it, he knew this small group that they had would have to split in order to help both of their friends.


	16. After Effects

"Does anyone else feel like we're forgetting something?" Sabine raised her voice in the ship's silence.

"The only thing we are missing is Galen. Then we are heading back to base and we are going to help Maul get back to his normal self." Kanan spoke sensing some tension in the room. Pulling his attention over to one side of the ship he could sense anger, jealousy, confusion, sorrow and a cocktail of other emotions pouring from Maul. Kanan could tell that Obi-wan and Feral were whispering to each other about something. 

Maul had looked like an outcast as Feral had pulled Obi-wan away from Maul to talk to him. Maul didn't know what to think. The first thing he remembers is waking up from an electric shock, trying to eat and the first two people he sees is his brother and Obi-wan. Obi-wan had coxed and relaxed him. Obi-wan had made Maul feel safe. 

Then after Sidious had shown up, he watched as Feral and Obi-wan tried to protect each other. Maul could barely hear anything anyone was saying as anger filed him. He was sure Sidious had said something but he had to get answers from Obi-wan. He had to talk but he couldn't, he just felt so angry. He remembers Obi-wan saying something then Obi-wan and Feral arguing over something. Feral had pulled Maul's attention away from Obi-wan. The look in Feral's eyes were ones that just dared Maul to fight him. Ones that wouldn't let his attention go anywhere else. Feral had snarled and Maul had attacked him before his brother had the first move. Maul could hear Obi-wan and the others talk to Feral, they were encouraging the fight? 

Why was Obi-wan telling Feral who to defeat him? Did Obi-wan want Maul to lose? Did Obi-wan not want Maul anymore? Was that why he was protecting Feral? Did Obi-wan choose Feral instead of Maul while Maul was captured? Maul couldn't lose this fight if it meant losing Obi-wan as his mate. Maul had kicked Feral to the ground. When Maul picked Feral up, he saw how terrified Obi-wan had looked. Had Obi-wan truly chose Feral over him? just as Maul thought he was winning the battle, Feral's still body had suddenly moved and before Maul knew it his nose and shoulder were broken. Just as he got up, he was thrown backward and the sound of his horns breaking rang through his head and as he fell he could only see Feral standing. His vision blacked out before he hit had hit the ground.

His memory fades in and out as he remembers the hospital and the droids and vaguely of the dreams he had. How they ever got blood was out of Maul's knowledge, but Maul once Maul felt strong enough to look around, he expected to see an empty room. However, Feral, his opponent, his brother, was on another bed next to him. He must have succumbed to his wounds sometime after the fight.

Once they were taken back to their cell, Maul came face to face with Obi-wan. He couldn't tell if Obi-wan was happy or disappointed with how the fight ended, or with how Feral had won. Maul couldn't read any sort of emotion from Obi-wan. It had frightened him, but he could play the same game. He wouldn't let him know how he felt.

He wouldn't.

Until Obi-wan placed his hand on Maul's cheek. Maul broke his facade as he started to cry and he had quickly pulled Obi-wan into a hug. Maul was scared of letting him go.

The next morning came and Thrawn was there with other Imperial officers to transfer them to some other facility. Until some fighting droids broke into their cell and someone had pulled Maul out of the cell. An Imperial officer had handed Maul his old weapon as if Maul knew what to do and before he knew anything everyone was running. Maul struggled to keep up with everyone as all the pain in his body made itself known. He had fallen and watched as everyone kept running until Obi-wan had noticed he had fallen. Obi-wan had yanked him off of the ground then pushed Maul away from him. Maul had fallen to the ground barely finding any strength to stand. Once more he was pulled off of the ground and was suddenly onto a ship.

Maul was pulled from his thoughts as he heard what sounded like a growl emanate from Feral and he noticed a concerned look on Obi-wan's face. Maul and Feral had made eye contact and Maul quickly looked away.

"So what are we going to do now?" Maul heard Obi-wan ask

"I don't know. I'll figure out something. Hopefully, it'll be soon and I won't have to fight him again. We barely made it out alive and the next time one or both of us might not make it out alive. I don't want to leave you alone with Sidious and his Imperials still hunting you Jedi." Feral replied to Obi-wan

"You know that you don't have to worry about me, I have been on my own before. I can take care of myself." Obi-wan stated with a hint of a joke and Feral chuckled at it. 

Maul sat there staring at his lap. His mind racing. The conversation he had overheard did not help his fear of losing Obi-wan either. What were they talking about? Were they talking about getting rid of him? Maul held his head and closed his eyes. He just wanted to block everything else out and go back to sleep. So much had happened had he could process everything clearly, he felt like his head was going to explode.

He felt someone sit next to him and he barely opened his eyes to see that Obi-wan had sat down next to him. Feral had followed Obi-wan to the seats, however, decided to stay standing. Without a sound, Maul stood up, walked across the ship, and sat down next to Ahsoka. He didn't know who he could trust, but he remembered that Ahsoka was there with him through it all. He could remember that it was her voice and her touch that pulled him through all those nights. He could remember her talking to him even when he just wanted to be alone. He could trust her. He hoped he could trust her.


	17. Studying

Anger coursed through his blue skin, yet peace and calmness flowed through him as well. He let out a huff as he sat down at his desk and he ran a hand down his face with the run of his hand it seemed to wipe away all of the stress that was on the Chiss' face. Thrawn looked at the strange darksaber that he had placed on his desk, next to the damaged longer lightsaber hilt, earlier before Emperor Palpatine had decided to patch a transmission through his holo-comm.

Thrawn now stood taking the darksaber in his hand. The longer he stared at the hilt of the saber, he realized the engravings in the hilt ad the material of it was purely Mandalorian. _The Mandalorian Rebel must have dropped this in their escape_ , Thrawn thought to himself.

Thrawn ran his fingers over the engravings as he walked over to the spot in his office that held all of the Mandalorian art. The darksaber, like it's lightsaber counterpart, had perfect balance. He ignited the blade that reminded him of a black abyss. His eyes and attention couldn't be pulled away from the alluring darkness. Extinguishing the blade, Thrawn set the darksaber with the rest of his Mandalorian collect to be inspected further at a later time.

He walked back to his desk and eyed the nonfunctioning lightsaber. He knew the origins of this one. It was Maul's. Specifically handmade by the ex-Sith Assassin for himself. Thrawn doubted that even if it was in any sort of functioning condition that the lightsaber would not respond to him. Everything about the lightsaber was artificial, but nothing would respond as if the saber knew that it wasn't Maul holding it. Without taking the saber apart, Thrawn merely peered into the hilt and could see two dull artificial kyber crystals. Everything that Thrawn saw about this lightsaber reflected what he had seen about Maul. The two dull crystals, the power source of the lightsaber, shining but barely. Just like Maul's hearts, the source of his life. Both still beating, but the passion and personality went. The hilt was just like his body, permanently scared but repairable. Just like the circuits and wiring, Maul's bone, muscles, all can be renewed and replaced with time. With time the shine and working conditions of the saber would hopefully be renewed, however, Thrawn and the Emperor both had hopped Maul would be permanently crushed and ruined by his experience. It would weaken his weakness, Obi-wan and with Obi-wan, the 'key to destroying the Sith' weakened, the Rebels would also be weakened. And with the Rebels weakened, the Rebellion would start to show its flaws and would soon be extinguished just like the broken lightsaber that now laid in his hands.

Walked over to a small empty space on a counter, he set the muted and somber saber down on the counter. Right at the exit of the room, Thrawn stopped and looked back at the darksaber, reapproaching it, he makeshifts a place on his belt wear the saber could be placed. Thrawn placed a smirk on his face as he walked through the halls of his ship. He was very much pleased to be back constantly moving through space faster than the sluggish prison. He had stopped in front of the only door in the hall that had a window.

He peered in and saw his prisoner. He knew the Rebels would be back and when they get him, they will get more than they ever will expect. Thrawn's blood rushed with expectation and excitement as he stalked his ship to the helm of his massive ship. As he reached the helm, Thrawn couldn't feel more confident about which side was going to win the war. Even with Lord Vader dead, Thrawn felt as a more than worthy replacement. Thrawn could nearly reach victory over the Rebels as he held an important piece of Mandalorian history on his belt. He gave a command to his officers. _It's time to find out your past, darksaber._

 


	18. Building blocks

As the Rebels ship continued through space, Maul could barely keep himself awake. He kept nodding off until he was shocked by something touching his hand. His eyes quickly looked down at his hand as he saw that it was Ahsoka's hand on his. His muscles relaxed as her thumb rubbed his hand.

"Everything's going to be fine. The nightmares can't get to you here." Ahsoka whispered to Maul and without a second thought, Maul leaned against her and begun his journey into sleep.

Obi-wan felt like a kicked puppy as he watched Maul fall asleep against Ahsoka. He was the one that put the entire plan together to get Maul out of there.

"Ahsoka," Obi-wan finally deciding to speak, "What had happened before we came?"

"I'm not sure how long they had Maul or how long they were torturing him, but when they transferred him to the Citadel, the first time I heard Sidious torture Maul. Maul only screamed your name, Master. He only called out for you. Sidious kept trying to make deals with Maul and when Maul didn't answer him quick enough, it was back to the torturing and Maul begging for it all to stop. It would repeat this way for many hours until Sidious gave up for the day.

"That small hole we talked through was only big enough for us to reach our hands through. Each night I would hold his hands and talk to him about you. He only wanted to talk and hear about you. When we weren't talking about you he was begging me to keep him awake and telling me about his nightmares, about how he couldn't remember what was true, that he couldn't remember if he had another brother other than Savage or if he had killed Satine, or if you had died or not. He couldn't remember how Savage had died. Or if it was you or Master Qui-gon that had cut his legs, or if he had fallen down some endless abyss.

"Once he couldn't talk anymore, it was just me trying to keep his hopes up and keep reminding him that we were going to get out. Those last few nights, he didn't make any noise or any moments beside him trying to crawl away from Sidious or the Imperial Officers. He didn't come back to the hole for me to talk to him or hold his hand. If you all didn't come when you did, Maul would probably have given up faith in any kind of rescue and succumbed back to the dark side, or his body would have given up on him." Ahsoka kept rubbing Maul's hand as he slept.

"I don't know what Maul is thinking right now and I'm sorry but I think he only trusts me right now, Master Obi-wan. I was the only consistent thing he had in there for however long it was"

"It is fine, Ahsoka," Obi-wan's voice was soft and considerate, "we all want Maul to back to the way he was before, me the most!"

"Maul had read my mind once using the force, can't you do it as well Master Kenobi?" Hera interrupted the conversation

"Sadly no, the light side does not corrupt and manipulate a mind like the dark side does. Not even in extreme emergencies were we ever taught to do such things to anyone. Not even to the Sith." Obi-wan replied only briefly taking his eyes off of Maul.

"It's even hard to focus in on what exactly Maul is feeling," Kanan comments, "He has so many emotions overpowering his mind that it's stronger than any mental barrier I've come across before. Anything we say to him right now, he'll probably just ignore it."

"What are we going to do when we go back to get Galen? We can't possibly take Maul with us and if Maul isn't going then neither is Master Kenobi." Ezra came to the conclusion as he rose from his seat.

"Ahsoka should stay as well since Maul is the most comfortable around her." Feral spoke up, "Satine and I can go along with the rest of the Phoenix Squadron to rescue Galen."

"Looks like that part is settled then," Kanan answered, "Do you think you and Ahsoka can handle Maul while we are rescuing Galen, Master Kenobi?"

"I'm sure we will be just fine, Kanan. I've handled Maul in many more situations than you can ever imagine. I know how Maul's mind works." Obi-wan responded

"Yeah, you both had swapped bodies on multiple occasions." Ahsoka's comment had ended with a nostalgic chuckle.

"Yeah..." Obi-wan let out a small laugh as he remembered as well. "I'm sure I can fix Maul again. It's what we've been doing most of our lives: breaking each other to just build ourselves back up again."

 


	19. Strong Enough

Ahsoka was the to walk off of the ship with Maul soon behind her. Once they took a few steps away from the ship, Maul turned around and saw Obi-wan halfway out of the ship looking back and talking to Feral. Maul sighed, shaking his head as it hung low. After a moment he continued to follow Ahsoka into the base.

"Feral, maybe you should stay here. You know some Nightsister magiks, maybe you can help restore Maul's mind?" Obi-wan asked

"Maul was always better at Nightsister magiks than me. I could try but only as a last resort. It is a very difficult thing to do by restoring someone's mind. Many things could go wrong." Feral responded then gestured back to the Phoenix squad. "Besides they need someone skilled in the Force besides the blind Jedi and padawan."

"I heard that!" Kanan called as he approached the pair. "Feral, you can stay if you want. We will be fine getting Galen on our own. The more people to come with us, the more we all will have to worry about one of us getting left behind or captured again."

"Now you're just saying that because I pointed out the incompetence of you being blind," Feral replied

"We don't need someone throwing any kind of insults here, besides Maul, Feral. But I mean it if you join us to save Galen, we with have someone else to worry about becoming captured. Besides, you and Obi-wan know Maul the best while he feels the most comfortable with Ahsoka. You would be doing more good here with them than you will be at helping us recuse Galen." Kanan stated and Feral squinted his eyes with a growl quietly emanating from him.  
  
  


As Ahsoka showed Maul around the base, she took notice of how his eyes were always on the ground. The entire time, his eyes were on the ground barely looking up until Feral and Obi-wan passed by them. Maul's heavy sorrowful eyes watched as an annoyed Feral and a relaxed Obi-wan seemed to by them no attention as they were talking about something. Maul opened his mouth to speak out to the pair but as nothing came out, he hung his head low again and begun to walk back to the entrance.

"Maul! Where are you going?" Ahsoka spoke as if she awaited an answer as she followed him. When she caught up to Maul, she hoped placing her hand on his shoulder would make him halt in his movements, however, he kept moving until they were a far distance from the base. He paused and turned to notice that Ahsoka was still with him. He picked up a dead stick from the ground and held onto it as he returned to walking away from the base. He kept going until he found a large dirt area and sat down in the middle of it. Ahsoka watched as Mauk placed his head in one hand as he scribbled lines into the dirt with the stick, something that bored younglings would do Ahsoka thought. She sat down next to him and quietly watched and he made sense lines in the dirt.

"Maul, is something wrong?" Maul huffed at her questioned and rolled his eyes. He sat there digging a hole in the dirt with his stick as ignored the countless other quizzical questions. He didn't care what she asked, he ignored everything. Questions about Obi-wan: Silence as he dug slowly in the ground. Questions about what he remembered: Silence as he dug slowly in the ground.

After a while of trying to get Maul's attention and trying to get him to answer had failed, she sat there next to him trying to see if she could make any sense of any of the lines he made when he was digging a trench in the ground only to fill it back up with the dirt and start digging again. After Maul got tired of messing around with the dirt, he just sat there staring at the sky.

Ahsoka just stayed him there until the sun began to set. She stood up and waited for him to stand too, but he just stared at the sunset.

"Come on Maul, let's get back to the base before it gets too late and we can't see," Ahsoka commented but Maul still refused to stand.

"Maul. Let's return to the base." She repeated his name multiple times until she finally gave up and decided to lift him up to get him to stand up. Maul dropped the stick as she lifted him up, it reminded him of a time long ago. After she lifted his light body halfway up, he stood the rest of the way on his own and brushed the dirt on his pants off. Maul began the walk back to the base without acknowledging that Ahsoka was even there with him. As they reentered the base they had seen Obi-wan.

"Oh, there you are Maul! I was getting worried, I couldn't find you any... where," Obi-wan's voice drifted away as he watched Maul walk pass him. Maul thought quickly on how to get to the bedrooms but he couldn't remember which one he was supposed to sleep in.

"Ahsoka, what's wrong with him? He just glanced at me and kept walking!" Obi-wan asked confusion filling his mind, "Did I do something wrong? I only remember Maul being something like this when he and Feral found me on Tatooine."

"I'm not sure Master Kenobi, he's been like this since we've landed. He won't even acknowledge that any of us are here." Ahsoka sighed, "I'm surprised he's like this to both of us."

"If he's like this to both of us, I wonder how he'll react to Feral." Obi-wan thought out loud as they began to follow where Maul went.

"Well he didn't attack him on the ship or in the cell after the fight, so he'd probably pretend like he's not even there." Ahsoka speculated, "Besides Master Kenobi, you're his mate, I would think you would get the best reactions out of him."

"I would think so too, Ahsoka. Maybe I can get him to meditate later with me and see what's going on in his mind and what I can do about it." Obi-wan commented and the rest of their journey to the bedrooms was silent until they saw Maul leaning against the wall obviously upset about something.

"There should be some empty rooms down the hall, follow me," Ahsoka spoke up and lead them a short way down the hall. "Any of the rooms here on the right are empty, you can choose whichever one you want to sleep in. Maul, do you remember how to get around?"

Without any response from Maul, who just chose the door to his immediate right, Ahsoka and Obi-wan gave a sad look at the door that had closed right behind Maul.

"Don't worry Ahsoka," Obi-wan took a deep breath, " He'll back to normal before we even expected it."

Ahsoka gave him a small smile to which he returned before going through the same door that hid Maul from them.

"Maul?" Obi-wan spoke up in the spacious room as Maul was sitting slouched on the only bed in the room. The only response Obi-wan got was Maul opening his eyes. Obi-wan took another deep breath before approaching the bed and sitting next to Maul, close enough that their bodies touched. Maul scooted further down the bed to stop them from touching. His eyebrows furrowed with a display of false agitation as he opened his mouth but quickly shut it. His arms crossed together, but not in a display of irritation. It looked more like he was hugging his arms to himself.

"Maul please," Obi-wan moved closer to Maul that their bodies were touching again. Maul quickly stood up from the bed. He finally looked at Obi-wan then at the door then back at Obi-wan.

"I'm not going to leave the room, Maul," Obi-wan commented then Maul's full attention went to the door, "What, are you waiting for something Maul?"

Maul let his head hang low again as he let out a deep breath then turned and walked a couple steps away from Obi-wan. Obi-wan stay on the bed watching how Maul was gripping his thin arms tight, then he looked over at the door before returning his gaze to Maul.

"Are you scared of something?" Obi-wan asked standing up, his question earned him a glare from Maul over his shoulder. "You don't have to be scared of anything now, Maul. You're safe here."

Maul rolled his eyes as he looked back away from Obi-wan. Obi-wan sighed and began to rummage through the large drawers and closet in the room. Maul opened his mouth to inquire what was Obi-wan doing until the old Jedi returned with proper shirts and pants tucked under his arm.

"Come on let's get you cleaned up and in clean clothes before we go to sleep." Obi-wan said and took Maul's arm in a light grip and lead him to the bathroom. It was here where Obi-Wan had noticed that Maul had on the same clothes he wore when he was captured, but they were so torn up and burned through they were barely recognizable and barely covering his body. Once Obi-wan had shut and locked the bathroom door behind them, he set down the clean clothes then he took off the remaining pieces of what was Maul's tunic.

But before paying any attention to the damage done to Maul's chest, Obi-wan places his hand on the large scar on the side of Maul's face. It had missed a horn, his eye, and his mouth. It was a much lighter tone than the rest of his face due to the lack of care. Maul's eyes were sunken in, his horns seem to be longer, his eyes were a very dull golden and maroon. Obi-wan's fingers lightly touched the long scar until Maul turn his head from the gentle touch. Obi-wan's gaze and hands fell down to Maul's chest and stomach. Maul was so thin that Obi-wan swore his fingers were able to run over almost every rib in Maul's body. He ran his hands back up Maul's body before running them down one of Maul's arms. Like the rest of his body, his arms and hands looked thin too, his nails, like his horns, were too long. As Obi-wan went to turn Maul's hand over, Maul snatched his hand away from Obi-wan. His other hand grasping his wrists and holding it close to his body. Fear was written all over Maul as he took a step back.

"Maul," Obi-wan softened his voice, "Everything is going to be fine, I promise you. It's only us in here. Any scars on you do not change who you are, you're still you and I don't want you to ever change because of how you look."

Obi-wan placed a hand on the cheek that was scarred and Maul let himself lean into the gentle touch and relax a bit. Obi-wan moved to the shower and had started it up.

"Come on Maul, let's get you cleaned up," Obi-wan spoke taking off his clothes as well.


End file.
